Star Wars: The Last
by Professor Etcetera
Summary: The Force is not the only cosmic power in the universe. (12/20/19: Chapter 6 "A Nosedived Defense" uploaded. Slow updates. Characters: Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ghost, OC)
1. Prologue - Wrapped in Skepticism

_The righteous ones went first. Then the common rabble. Then the gods. All who remain to carry our legacy...are the worst of us.  
_

 **Escalation! As the Clone War rages on, the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems grow weary of the constant bloodshed and shattered circuitry. Out of desperation, each side puts their best minds together to create and experiment with new, deadly weaponry, such as the Republic's Electro-Proton Bomb, and the Confederacy's dreaded space cruiser,** _ **The Malevolence**_ **.**

 **Upon the desolate planet of Jakku, Strange signals, along with horrifying reports from the planet's few inhabitants reach the ears of the Republic. Fearing the Separatist's are creating yet another weapon of mass destruction, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine sends Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano to investigate the anomaly...**

* * *

The blue aurora that is hyperspace engulfed the Venator-class cruiser as it speeded towards Jakku. On the bridge, Admiral Yularen stood front and center at the viewing port, hands clasped behind his back, staring into the hypnotic view outside.

"Navigation, what is our ETA?" he asked without moving.

"30 minutes, sir." The officer replied.

He thought for a moment. "Very well. Inform the Generals that we're nearing our destination" he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The officer got up from his station and proceeded to the communications room.

* * *

"...I still think this is a load of Bantha-wash, Master" he said with irritation.

"Would you rather risk leaving the Separatists to their devices, Anakin?" Obi-Wan replied with a sigh, already tired of the conversation. He really didn't want to deal with his former Padawans' antics right now. As if by divine appointment, a clone Officer walked in from the bridge and gave them a crisp salute. A closer look at his uniform told them that this was the Navigation Officer. "Generals, we have 30 minutes until we exit hyperspace."

"Good. Prep the gunships to drop off the landing party, and ready our fighters and charge up the _Resolute_ 's shields and canons" said Obi-Wan.

"On it, Sir" he replied with another salute before turning on his heel and walking back to the bridge. Obi-Wan turned back to the holotable that was projecting an image of the planet Jakku, along with its two moons.

"I see you're being prepared." Anakin scowled with arms crossed, unamused.

"I'd rather us not be caught with our pants down by a Separatist blockade, my _former Padawan_." he shot back.

Anakin rolled his eyes, but then realized something, "You know, normally it's Admiral Yularen that reports stuff like this to us."

"Hm... Perhaps he knows what happens when we're in the same room together, and decided to steer clear" he suggested with a smile and a regal wave of his hand, palm face up, as if the suggestion was tangible and resting on it. It was an obvious reference to their near-constant banter.

Anakin, less civilized, snorted, "I suppose so. But to answer your question, Yes, because I can't see the Separatists being involved in something _this_ strange. It doesn't even sound like a weapon at all. Just some crazy stories. It's too outlandish to be believable" He looked off to his right, scowl and all, as if there could be no retort. But knowing Obi-Wan, that _never_ happens.

"Do you think we would have thought differently of the Malevolence before Master Plo-Koon discovered it?" he offered.

"Everyone knows that building a giant ion canon like that is theoretically possible."

For a moment, Obi-Wan looked at his pupil as if he'd grown a third eye, but quickly became amused. "Not everyone is a magnetic-ionization engineer, Anakin" He said.

Anakin huffs. "You know what I mean. It's within the spectrum of what we deem 'reasonable' for suspicion. But this?! Ugh! Come on, Obi-Wan! Tell me this isn't even a _little_ far-fetched" he exclaimed, exasperated.

Calmly, yet stern, he replied, "We have our orders, Anakin. We are to investigate this anomaly, and report our findings to the Chancellor. We simply cannot afford to suffer such major loses among our ranks again... _even_ if it requires us to act on slight paranoia."

He smirks and points a finger at him in triumph, "Ha! So you _do_ think its crazy."

Obi-Wan looks back at the holotable, ignoring the gesture. He answered, but he didn't seem to pay attention to himself when he did, "I suppose." He replied, seemingly lost in thought. It would be almost concerning had it been anyone else, but Anakin knew his master well. _He does this all the time_ he concluded.

Coming out of his self-induced trance, he stated, "However, I would like to think that we've encountered stranger."

Anakin quirked a brow, "Such as?"

He looked back to his former student, "Would you honestly think that anything would surpass Mortis?"

The energy in the room disappeared instantly. Everything seemed to slow down. Memories flooded into his mind. _Bad_ memories. Anakin tensed up, and turned away, crossing his arms, "Don't remind me" he said, coldly.

Obi-Wan gave a sigh. He didn't mean to bring _that_ up, necessarily. "You still haven't gotten over it, have you?"

"Kinda hard to" he replied, flatly.

"There was nothing we could have done, Anakin."

He spun on his heel to face him again, scowling more than ever, but Obi-Wan knew his anger wasn't directed at him. "I know. That's what always bothered me. We couldn't do _anything_ " he answered, throwing his hands in the air.

Obi-Wan looked back at the holotable and stroked his beard, his signature move when he deep in thought, trying to come up with a reply to ease the tension. "At least they're no longer a threat."

Anakin gave a long sigh that carried a deep weightiness to it. He leaned himself on the holotable, placing his hands on top to support his weight, peering down into the hologram as if it held a hidden message. Then he looked back up at his master, scowl remaining, and spoke quietly, as if to himself. "...Do we know that?"

Obi-Wan tilted his head, his own brows furrowed in confusion. He removed his hand from his beard and cautiously asked, "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying should we really believe that such powerful Force entities can be killed by simple carnal methods?" He replied flatly.

More beard stroking as he studied the far wall. "I wouldn't worry about it, Anakin. It's-"

"He puppeted my padawan! He _killed_ her! _She_ almost killed _you_! And their parent was in on it! How can I _not_ worry?!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air again.

Obi-Wan raised a hand in his direction, signaling him to calm down. "She's alive now, Anakin. We're _all_ alive. That's all that matters now." he said in a reassuring tone, continuing to try and calm Anakin down.

He let out a long breath. "I...guess." His tone was unconvincing, but Obi-Wan let it slide.

" _As always_ " he retorted with teasing victory.

Anakin's mouth curled into a slight smirk. "Very funny."

But that smirk went away as fast as it came. It was Anakin's turn to let his thoughts carry him. A brief silence hung in the air, until he stated, "She still doesn't know."

It took a moment for that to register. Once it did, Obi-Wan actually became impressed "I'm surprised you were able to keep it secret."

 _I'm quite good at keeping secrets,_ Anakin mused. "I've just never had the guts to tell her. I don't want her to bear that burdan." He wasn't lying. He didn't want to know how she would react to the fact that she tried to kill both him and his master. How could she believe that she died only to be resurrected? Knowledge of the latter would make her laugh in disbelief. The former, however, would hurt her. A lot. She's not fragile by any means. But she still feels, and strongly at that. While adopting the some traits from Anakin, from his unorthadox tactics, to his tendency to disobey orders, Ahsoka, unlike her master, always carried an aura on innocence about her. She would always strive to do the right thing. She believed in mercy, like the Jedi. She never took enjoyment out of taking another life; unlike him, who thought of their deaths as justified. _She's a far better Jedi than I am, that's for sure. Still, they deserved it...most of them.  
_

 _Focus._

In the same way he wished he could forget about his past failures, like failing to save his mother, or slaughtering the group of Tuskan Raiders out of sheer hatred, he wanted to avoid having her deal with knowledge that seemed o' so similar. He knows what it's like to have regrets, and about how potentially crippling guilt can be. She's made mistakes before, but they got resolved in the end; they were behind her. This was different. _It's not good to be compromised during wartime,_ he reasoned. But that wasn't why, and he knew it. He's _protective_ of her. That's obvious enough-

"It's for the best." Obi-Wan stated, startling Skywalker out of his train of thought. _I'm glad I have my mental shields up_. "The Council specifically asked for that event to never be made known to her. Like Master Yoda said, those who use the Dark Side are forever tainted by its power, further opening a door to its corruption. It was a blessing for her to have lost her memory of using it. It had kept her door shut, in the end."

 _Of course that's all the Council cares about,_ he grumbled internally. He could seldom tolerate being in the presence them. Of course, he would never say that to their face-or anyone else's, for that matter-but there were times he came close. Their emotionless way of handling matters just got on his nerves. _They don't care._ That's one reason why he likes the Chancellor as much as he does. _He cares. He gets things done_.

 _Focus, shabit!_

Forcing himself out of his musings this time, another worry of his came to the forefront. "...If she ever does find out, I hope she won't resent me for keeping it from her."

Obi-Wan knew that she wouldn't. Ahsoka wasn't the only one tainted by the Dark Side during that ordeal, after all. She had secrets to keep as well. Unbeknownst to Anakin, The council were _much more_ admonishing towards Ahsoka and Obi-Wan in keeping Anakin's own memories of it all at bay. He knew she wouldn't blame him at all for keeping the truth hidden. If anything, _he_ would get upset at _her_. "You're her master, Anakin. You should know that's not in her character" he decided to say.

"I hope you're right" he said, almost regretfully.

Silence stretched across the communications room, and Obi-Wan tried to drop the subject. They couldn't afford to be weighed down more than absolutely necessary. "We can discuss this later if you must. Right now we need to focus on the mission at hand."

"...Right. Where is she, anyway?"

"Probably doing the same thing as our dear Admiral." A smile creeped up on Obi-Wan's face. " _Avoiding us_." Anakin groaned in response.

"Although she's probably heading to the hanger now that our orders have been given. I shall keep things squared away up here in orbit, Anakin. You and Ahsoka lead the landing party down to the planet's surface" General Kenobi added.

 _I hate sand,_ he grumbled as he walked out of the room at a hurried pace "Well, better make sure she's on her way" he said to himself as he lifted up his wrist-com.

* * *

( _ **Earlier**_ )

Avoiding them she was, indeed. And she would be enjoying herself, too...if she could actually _hit_ the targets.

"Ya' know, with all your training in Saber combat and the Force, I would've expected you to be a better shot" he said from behind.

With a huff, she dropped the DC-15 with a thud, onto the bench that separated the shooters stand from the rest of downrange. She spun on her heel, quickly turning to face the Captain with her arms crossed.

"Perhaps I'm just too civilized for a blaster, Rex" She stated with a scowl, annoyed by his tone, but also at her failure to hit the decently-sized, and unmoving, silhouettes. Ahsoka's never been one to "quit on a miss" as they say. No, she's determined to keep trying until she wins; something she learned from her master.

"Something Skywalker told you?" he asked, unamused. After serving the General for as long as he has, he's been nearly able to guess Anakin's remarks on a subject before he himself says them.

Ahsoka loosened up. "Actually," she began, "he got that from Obi-Wan. Says Lightsabers are an 'elegant weapon from a more civilized age'." she said, attempting to quote Obi-Wan in his own voice. Rex couldn't contain his laughter at that. Ahsoka joined in. Thankfully, no one else was in the firing range at the time to notice their disrespectful outburst.

Quickly composing himself, he replied, "Blasters may not be elegant, but they sure as kark are efficient, more so than any sword." He spoke proudly.

She quirked an eye marking, "Oh, really?" she asked challengingly, taking a step towards him in defiance.

"Of course." He replied, unwavering. "Not everyone is Force-sensitive or has the time to hone in their motor skills for acrobatic melee combat. Sabers require you to close the distance between you and your target, and they usually involve the severing of limbs or other parts of the body. Blasters can make a quick and clean cauterized hole at center mass before the target even knows what hit em'...and all that at a safe distance" he finished proudly.

"Hmph." Now _she_ was unamused. Ahsoka was brought up in the art of the sword, and she took pride in it. Having someone, anyone, bash that art is not something she can let slide; _even_ if it's from one of her good friends. "Coupled with the Force, a Lightsaber can be more potent than _any_ blaster. They can cut through plasma resistant metals better," Ahsoka began, checking off each remark with a finger, "they can block other Lightsabers, and, best of all, they can redirect your blaster bolts like they were nothing" she ended triumphantly, her hands on her hips and head tilted upwards with a sly smile. If she was his height, she would be able to look down her nose at him.

He scowled. "Like I said, not everyone is Force sensitive" he said crossing his arms.

She took another step towards him and patted his left arm, "It's okay, Rexie" she said with mocking reassurance. "You're plenty sensitive for me" she smiled innocently.

He rolled his eyes, letting our a loud groan and mumbled something about annoying children. She chuckled. He then shifted his gaze down range. His face developed an evil grin. "I suppose, then, that those targets must have a extremely high midi-chlorian count."

Furrowing her eye markings in confusion, she turned to where he was looking and hesitantly asked, "Why?"

"'Cause it's more feasible to assume that than believe you missed them 10 times in a row." She turned back to him, lips pursed, which set him off laughing once again. She punched him on the arm she previously patted, but he only laughed more.

"I don't see why I should bother practicing with this thing." She said, jerked a thumb over her shoulder, referring back to the carbine on the bench. She then gestured to her belt, "I'm plenty effective with my Lightsabers."

He composed himself yet again and explained in a more serious tone, "I know your master says those swords are you life-and rightfully so-but if General Skywalker has shown me anything, it's that you won't always have them with you, and it's in those moments a blaster can come in real handy."

"...Master Kenobi told me of several times Anakin lost his Saber." She chuckled at the thought.

Rex was never told this, but it didn't surprise him. _That sounds like the good General_. But that brought up another question. "Skywalker never told you himself?" He had an idea of where that would lead.

"Was probably too embarrassed by it, to be honest." She said and they both gave a chuckle. _Knew it_ he thought. "I can see that happenin'" he said. "Well, you've got a bit of time before we exit hyperspace. You should practice more, little un'" he encouragingly offered with a pat on her shoulder.

"Ugh, I'm not 'little' Rex!" she complained.

"Well, you're shorter than me, aren't ya?" He grinned.

"Well, _you're_ younger than me" she fired back.

" _From_ a certain point of view" he retorted, still grinning.

She rolled her eyes. "Great. You've been spending time with Obi-Wan, haven't you?"

Rex chuckled and waved his hand in dismissal. "Oh don't worry. I haven't been infected like Cody has."

"Whatever" Ahsoka turned back to the bench, and decided to change topics. "Have you read the briefing back on Coruscant?" she asked as she picked up the DC from the bench.

Rex sighed. "Yeah, it's all pretty bonkers if you ask me" he shook his head.

"I'll say. It doesn't even sound like a weapon. More like a freak of nature. Well, as far as 'nature' and 'droids' are able to mix. I don't know, I can't make sense of any of it" she shook her head as she took aim.

"It sounds like Seppies to me. The stories probably resulted from changing hands...well, that coupled with some blokes high on Spice." He stifled another laugh. However, she didn't hold back.

"That _would_ make sense." she chuckled, all the while facing down range. She then went through the motions: stilling herself, holding her breath and squeezing the trigger, only for the gun to let out a faint click and wheeze. "Oh! Oops." Rex had given her a mostly drained gas clip to practice with. ' _No sense in wasting a full one'_ Rex explained earlier. She looked over her should and asked, "got a spare clip, Rex?"

"...Ugh" She heard behind her. She looked over her shoulder and found covering his wincing face with his hand.

She quirked another brow and chuckled at the overly dramatic gesture. "What?" she gave a smile of genuine ignorance.

His hand remained on his face. "It's called a _cartridge_ , ya' shiny" he said, annoyed.

"There's a difference?"

"Mhm" he removed his hand, tone unchanged.

"Does it have to be _that_ big a deal, Rex?" She asked, noticing his frustration.

"Depends" he deadpanned. "Do you want every brother in the Grand Army to correct you every time you say 'clip'?"

She rolled her eyes and gave a huff. "Fine then, could you hand me another _cartridge_?"

He perked up at hearing the _correct_ terminology. "Of course, Commander" he smiled.

Another eye roll. "Oh, so _now_ you're gonna call me by my title." He shrugged.

A bit of practice later seemed to get Ahsoka straightened out.

"Not too bad, kid." He said, looking at the electronic scoreboard.

She had scored a 4.8, slightly below average for a clone.

"I dunno..." Ahsoka shook her head in apprehension. She turned back to the board, "I think the teacher's holding out on me" She gave a giggle and pointed to his name that was near the top of the list; a

9.1. He tilted his head in acknowledgement, but brushed it off. "Eh, just need more practice s'all-"

" **Attention crew, we will be exiting hyperspace in 30 minutes. Boarding party, and all pilots, report to the hanger at once and await futher orders. Cruiser gunners report to your stations at once. Repeat-** "

"Well, guess the fun's over" said Ahsoka over the loud speakers, shrugging her shoulders as she placed her carbine on the gun rack.

"Be glad you don't have to clean that thing" he pointed out, envious. Every clone was both trained and obligated to keep their weapons in working order. It was a pain at times. _And she's just gonna leave it there? Ha! Leave it there my-_

"I'll keep that in mind" she waved him off without a care. Rex abruptly put on his helmet and gave her a look that would scare off a gundark. Once cooled off, he caught up with her as they ran out towards the hanger.

"But who knows," he referred back to what she said before he mentioned weapon maintenance, "maybe you'll get a chance to blast some more tinnies" he suggested with optimism.

" _Blast_ them? Ha! I hope not, because that would mean I'd have lost my Lightsabers first. And that only happens when things have gone _really_ bad."

* * *

 **A/N: Expect loads of AU on from both universes. Things are gonna be similar/exact in a lot of areas, and completely different in others. Just assume canon as default unless/until the story tells you otherwise.  
**


	2. Prologue - An Audience with Fate

"Coming out of hyperspace, General!" Yelled an officer. Obi-Wan stood at the viewing port, Admiral Yularen stood off to the side. They looked outside intently, waiting for whatever would show itself once they exited the aura of intergalactic flight. They would need to be quick if they found Separatist cruisers or the like orbiting the planet.

The hum of the _Resolute_ 's engines gave way to endless twinkling stars and the bright dust ball that is Jakku. But oddly enough, that's all they saw. Another officer informed them the scanners showed up negative. As far as they could tell, they were the only ones orbiting the planet.

Obi-Wan was relived that they wouldn't be encountering any resistance in space, but that didn't inherently mean the Separatists aren't involved. For all he knew, there could be a hidden outpost there, creating any number of abominations. _It's been done before_ , Obi-Wan thought, remembering the events on the Naboo involving a certain mad scientist and the re-creation of the Blue Shadow Virus. But why would the Separatists try to conceal such any outpost on an near-abandoned desert like Jakku? The only way to get any answers was to go down there and see for themselves. That was Anakin's job.

But something else bothered him. Something felt _off_ in the Force. It felt as if there was an absence of...something. Obi-Wan couldn't make out what exactly, but he knew it the source of it was planet-side. Whatever they were here to find was most likely the source of the disturbance.

Raising his com-link, Obi-Wan contacted his former apprentice. "Anakin, come in."

" _I'm here, Master. What'd you find?_ " he asked. He already knew they arrived at Jakku. Even though he wasn't there to see it, he could sense the _Resolute_ coming out of hyperspace. Heck, _everyone on board_ could. The ship's massive hyperdrive isn't exactly quiet. Anakin just put two-and-two together.

"That's just it, Anakin. We didn't find anything. We're all alone out here." Obi-Wan said with a hint of curiosity.

" _What?! That doesn't make any sense!_ " Anakin exclaimed. After a moment, his tone became much more serious. " _Do...do you think the Separatists aren't involved after all?_ "

This was concerning. What if the reports _were_ accurate? What if there are, in fact, terrible creatures down there?

"I don't know." Obi-Wan replied. "The only way to find out is getting down there. However, I advise caution. I sense something...off, in the Force." Obi-Wan said as he looked to the floor, contemplating.

". _..I sense it, too, Master._ " Obi-Wan had hoped it was just him, that his senses were in need of "tuning". But apparently that was not the case.

"Send a small team to investigate the area. Stay hidden. I have a feeling we shouldn't be going in blasters-a-blazing this time around." he remarked with what little humor he could muster at the time.

Anakin tried to play along, but his inflections were weak. "Heh. You say that like there's any other way to go about a mission, Obi-Wan."

"Just...be careful down there."

"Will do, Master. We'll be back here before you know it."

Obi-Wan hoped he was right, but that nagging feeling in the Force didn't help that hope. One thing they both knew was, no matter what they found, something was indeed _very wrong_.

* * *

To say the hanger was bustling would be an understatement. Clones were darting here and there, others were sorting through supply crates, and pilots were performing pre-flight diagnostics along with their astromechs. Crews were giving the outer hauls of the fighters a once over, checking for any external damage that may have been missed in the previous post-battle inspection. The gunships that would drop off the landing party were getting the same treatment. The pilots had been briefed on the posibility of Seperatist resistance and were prepared for engagement if the droids popped up later on. Gathered near one of the LAATs, Anakin was briefing Rex, Ahsoka, the two pilots of a single LAAT, and two 501st clones.

"R2?" Anakin asked, and his astromech then projected a portion of Jakku's topography. Rolling hills of sand filled in the perimeter of the projection, while the center was more flat and uniform. A red dot near the center marked the point of interest.

"Here's the situation." Skywalker began. "Our destination is sector 59.47." he states, pointing the hologram. "We know the site is emitting strong signals but they are impossible for us to interpret. According the reports from the locals, we're looking at a tall spire that turns into a deep sinkhole at ground level. It is made of unknown materials and objects. There are also...rumors of strange and frightening sounds, as well as sightings of machines of unknown origin." Skywalker rubbed the back of his head. He really thought this whole mission was silly, at least at first. It still did, but what he felt earlier seemed to sober him up. He had his orders, and for once, he would follow them.

Ahsoka could hear one of the clones, Jansen, whisper to his brother, " _Sounds like clankers_ ". He was always the "shoot first, ask questions later" kind of clone, and rather humorous and outspoken. He almost always managed to make someone laugh...except now, of course.

" _Shh!_ " She heard the other, named Kot, tell him as he elbowed Jansen. Kot was the more respectable of the two, although he usually bended the rules in his favor. Something unusual about him was his intellect. Kot was about as much of a geek as the clone vats on Kamino could produce. He was no genius by any stretch, but his mind and fondness of tinkering with droids tended to come in handy from time to time.

Ahsoka gave a small smile and rolled her eyes at them before turning back to face the holo. While her Master tended to work with the likes of Rex and Fives-Force rest his soul-she was usually stuck with these two, odd, characters. But Ahsoka didn't mind. In fact, she rather enjoyed their company. Over time the three became very good friends, and she trusted them...but even her trust had its limits.

Skywalker takes a step towards the holo and raises his voice slightly to regain their attention. "Our job is to recon and investigate the area, and secure whatever evidence we can. We don't know whether or not the Separatists are involved here, but to play it safe, the team will be small so as to not risk detection. We will depart at local planetary dusk for further concealment under the cover of darkness. The landing party will consist of Myself, Captain Rex, and Commander Tano, and clones Kot and Jansen" he said, pointing to each member, respectively. "We'll all file into one gunship and the pilots will land at this point, here" The holo scrolled to the south and revealed a mountainous region. "These mountains should hide our ship well enough. We'll start there and work our way to the objective."

Anakin's voice became solemn. "We don't know what we're dealing with, here. This could have Separatist fingerprints all over it, or we could be dealing with something else entirely." His thoughts briefly drifted to the disturbance he felt earlier, and his Padawan shot him a concerned look. Apparently he forgot to close off his thoughts from the Force, and Ahsoka felt it. He looked at her gave a slight nod, which she returned, and turned back to the clones, and became _very_ stern, furrowing his brows. "But no matter how crazy or bogus this mission may seem, remember that we're doing this to ensure the safety of the Republic and her people. Expect resistance, and keep your guard up and your head down at all times. Any questions?"

Kot, as was his character, always had questions. "Sir, that's quite the walk. Why don't we just land right next to the disturbance?"

Rex stepped up. "Because if the Seppies are involved, they'll no doubt have an outpost there. Of what size and firepower we don't know, but we can't chance our gunship being caught in the open."

"And why not just send in an entire fleet to combat them instead of relying on stealth?" asked one of the pilots.

Anakin answered. "Jakku is in the far Outer-Rim. Our intel on the planet is sparse. If we blindly send a strike-force we could be sending them to their doom. Stealth is the safest option."

There was something Jansen couldn't understand. "Sir, with all due respect, why are Kot and I being sent on this OP? Surely there are more experienced clones-"

"The majority of troops I would consider sending are either unavailable or dead" the General deadpanned. "Jansen, you're known for being a good shot. You'll be hanging back and providing cover should we need it. Kot, you have a sharp mind. If we do find something unusual down there, we could use your brains."

With a single clap of his hands, he dismissed them. "Alright, pile in!" he shouted as he pointed to the gunship.

A chorus of "Sir, yes sir!" followed the end of the briefing, and the two funneled into the LAAT, while the pilots climbed into their respective seats.

"You okay, Skyguy?" Ahsoka asked as she walked up to him.

"Ahsoka, did...you sense anything when we came out of hyperspace?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. But I didn't know what to make of it" she replied. Ahsoka, while very skilled in combat and the Force, was still a padawan for a reason.

"I guess we all sensed it. Something is off down there. I need you to be extra careful, alright?" He asked, looking her straight in the eye. Ahsoka started to worry. She almost never hears her master speak to her like this. She always knew he cared about her, but he _never_ directly expressed it like just did here.

Ahsoka nodded. "I will, Master. I promise." She replied with an equal tone to his.

Anakin's posture lightened up at that, and he smirked. "Alright. I guess the sooner we leave, the sooner we can leave this dust ball, eh?" he said with mock-enthusiasm.

"What's up with you and sand, anyway, Skyguy?" She replied with a chuckle, going along with the change in mood.

Anakin sighed, rolling his eyes and jerked his head in the direction of their ride. "Just get in the ship" he deadpanned as he entered.

Ahsoka glanced to the side of the haul when something caught her eye; something displeasing to her. _Ugh. Why do they have to paint skimpy Twi'leks on these things? Next thing I know it'll be a Togruta._ The thought made her shiver. _No thanks._

* * *

During the trip from the hanger to Jakku's atmosphere, there was an increasing tension filling the air surrounding the passengers. Well, at least the passengers who were Force-sensitive. Jansen and Kot, who both occupied the opposite side of the transport, seemed relaxed and ready for anything. However, the other two on board weren't as fortunate. On the far end was Anakin, who was fidgety, crossing his arms and occasionally tapping his foot on the durasteel floor of the gunship, to which his padawan gave an eye-roll.

But to be fair, being the student of the oh-so-impatient one, Ahsoka wasn't faring much better. "Alright, seriously, what's going on with you?" she finally blurted out. "You and Master Kenobi seemed really gloomy ever since we took off."

Anakin sighed and turned towards her. "Reach out, Ahsoka. Focus on the planet. What do you feel?" he said.

Ahsoka was still a slow learner when it came to feeling through the Force, but she knew enough. She closed her eyes and opened herself to the cosmic energy. She blocked out the hum of the engines, the occasional whispers and fist-bumps of her clone companions, and also the tension and unease coming from her mentor. Ahsoka focused on the planet Jakku.

After a moment, her eyes shot wide open. "Master? What _is_ that?"

Anakin shook his head. "I'm not sure, Ahsoka" he replied. "We can only assume it's from the anomaly we're investigating."

"It was so... _subtle_. No wonder I didn't notice it before, but now that we're closer I can feel that it's, well, different."

The Force is normally equated to liquid that flows all around and absorbs into the user, and, when directed so, the user could open his/her "flood gate" and unleash a current of power, and bend it to their will. This was different. While Ahsoka had to admit that what she began to feel wasn't unpleasant, it did make her wonder. Before, when they were on the _Resolute_ , she didn't sense anything. But now that they were nearing the atmosphere, Ahsoka senses became more and more immersed in this subtly strange feeling. The Force was not _flowing_ through her, but _blowing_ against her, more like a light and steady breeze then a current. And the direction of the breeze told Ahsoka that it was coming from Jakku.

"I don't think you're not sensing all of it. Reach out again" her master replied before he was interrupted by one of the clones. Kot, to be specific.

"Excuse us, sirs, but we need to perform a gear-check."

The two Jedi turned to their clone companions. Annoyed, Skywalker asked, "And why didn't you do this _before_ we left?"

Jansen spoke up in defense. "We did, sir. It's standard procedure to double-check our equipment before arriving at the LZ. But we can wait if it suits you best, sir."

Anakin sighed and shook his head. "No. Carry on." He then looked to his padawan and put a hand on her shoulder. "Reach out."

"Yes, Master" she replied as Anakin removed his hand. She closed her eyes once again, and opened herself up.

She never noticed the awkward gestures the clones were giving each other. They turned off their external speakers and spoke to each other through the comm units that were built in to their helmets, so as not to interrupt the Jedi with...whatever it is they're doing.

" _Wellp, better get checked up, eh bro?_ " Jansen humorously told his brother. He slid off his pack and tossed it on the ground with a thud, startling the padawan.

Kot put his hand on his helmet and sighed. " _Geez, J. You gotta let the whole ship know?_ "

" _What?_ " he asked stretching his arms out.

"Could you keep it down, please?" they heard Ahsoka ask.

Fumbling with his autio dial on his helmet, he switched his mic back on. "O-of course, Commander. Apologies" and quickly switched it back.

She nodded politely, and went back to concentrating.

" _Just try to go quietly, will ya?" Kot hastily replied. "Upsetting any Jedi is a bad idea, but triggering Skywalker or his student is even worse."_

" _Hey, the Gen. just told us to do this_ , _so I'm gonna_! _I don't need you breathing over my shoulder about it!_ " Jansen said heatedly.

" _C'mon, man! Please?_ " he whined as he removed his own pack and, _gently_ , set it on the floor, and crouched down to it. Jansen just -growled, but relented. As they were picking up various devices and testing their functionality, Kot would occasionally sneak a glance at the Commander. It's not often he gets to see a Jedi meditating. He never really had a good grasp on concepts of the Force, but it was a subject that intrigued him, and seeing a Jedi in this state simply fasinated him. Jansen noticed him sneaking looks before long. " _Getting an eyefull over there?_ "

Caught off guard, he blurted out " _Wha-n-NO! It's not like that!_ " Jansen laughed hard.

" _I just...it's not often I see someone meditate like this. I'm curious._ "

" _Ugh. You and you obsessions_ " Jansens said distastefully.

Kot had had enough. " _Oh shut up you Gundark brain._ "

Jansen swung around towards him, shaking a fist. " _I'm gonna-_ "

" _Ladies._ " Rex interrupted from towards the ship's front. He'd been listening in the whole time.

The two might as well have jumped out of their skin.

They jerked away and hit their back on the ship's side-panel, creating another loud metalic thud.

"Eh," Jansen said, breathing heavily. "Sorry, Sir. Forgot you were there."

Kot cringed. Surely that disturbed the Jedi again. _Kriff_. He opened his eyes and checked.

...Anakin wasn't even paying attention to him. He looked concerned. His focus was on the commander. Looking at her himself, his eyes widened.

She was breathing heavily, face contorted. She looked _scared_. She shook her head a couple of times. "No..." she whimpered, barely loud enough to register. "No...please..."

 _By my creators..._.

"General?" Rex asked as he moved closer. "What's wrong?"

"I..." He started, not taking his eyes off of her, but he stopped when she whimpered again. Anakin moved in front of her and lightly shook her. "Snips? Snips, snap out of it!"

"What in blazes-" Jansen started, but was quickly sushed by his brother.

A loud cry erupted from her, startling everyone. And then she collapsed.

"AHSOKA!" Anakin shouted as he caught her.

"Commander!" Rex shouted as well coming to the General's side.

"The hell happened!" Jansen finally got out. Kot just stood there in a daze.

 _This isn't normal..._ he thought.

 _Aren't I bright for realizing that?_

Suddenly the General grunted and doubled over in pain.

"General!" Kot finally spat out as he went to support him.

"I'm fine!" he said immediately, jerking himself away from his help.

" _ **Reading a disturbance on the scanners**_ " came the voice of one of the pilots through the intercomm.

"Just help her" Anakin continued, pointing to his padawan. Kot stared at her.

 _I know medicine._

 _I can do this._

He kicked his pack closer to her and crouched down, opening the flap and searching for a medisensor. "Where is it?" he complained to himself. "Ah, Kriff! Where is it?!"

The intercom blared again. " _ **BRACE FOR IMPACT!**_ "

* * *

Wind. A steady, blowing, wind, just like she felt before. She kept concentrating. It was...calming. Peaceful, which, to be honest, surprised her. Ahsoka could almost feel the breeze on her orange skin, which honestly felt very good. But she wasn't relaxed. None of this made sense. None at all! If...whatever this is, is as bad as the people on Jakku say, then how could it feel so cozy? Something that's of the Dark Side would be giving off feelings of fear, anxiety, dread. Unless this wasn't of the Dark Side But how could it not be? This felt reassuring. Rejuvenating. Tranquil. And Ahsoka just couldn't understand why, which frustra-

 _Focus_ she reminded herself, and opened herself further, listening, seeing, smelling-whichever of her five senses would pick up something. Anything. She stretched out her feelings and felt around where the source was.

It was...empty. That's the only way she could describe it. Void of feeling, void of...meaning. The Force flowed _past_ it, but not _through_ it. Not _with_ it. Like a boat displacing the water it sits upon. It was _empty_ of the Force. It was _bypassing_ whatever this was. Ahsoka had encountered a lot of strange things in her short time fighting in the Clone War, but _this_ was one of the strangest, by far. She reached out even further, and that's when Ahsoka noticed something else. Something in her _ear_.

 _Whispers_. The wind. It was _speaking_. Talking to her. She listened, inclining her ear to what the breeze was saying. The voice was feminine, as if whispering in her ear, yet it sounded distant, at the same time.

 **"Hope,"**

the voice said in monotone.

 **"Peace. Tranquility."**

All of a sudden, the breeze was gone, the comfort and the whispers with it. The lack of the sound the wind made produced an almost deafening silence. Ahsoka squinted to maintain her concentration, and then she saw something. No, many things.

People. Ahsoka saw lots of people. She couldn't make out their features, but she could tell that some were holding hands, while she could hear others talking and laughing. They were all walking throughout a...a...a town. No, more than a town. A city? Maybe, if you could call it a city, that is. It wasn't your typical spotless and shiny and bustling modern utopia, like on the upper levels on Coruscant, but it seemed solid enough, and no one seemed to mind the imperfections. Some people stood still, looking up in the sky. There was something up there, she knew it, but she couldn't see what it was. But Ahsoka knew the look in those people's eyes as they stared skyward. They were...hopeful...peaceful. Smiling. _Just like the whispers said,_ she reminded herself, and she couldn't help it when her own lips curled upwards.

Then the wind returned. It blew softly throughout the city, attempting to provide comfort to the people within. An attempt that completely _failed_. They all hastily turned their heads to another section of the sky, and in the blink of an eye, the warm bliss that Ahsoka could feel coming from the masses turned into what she could only describe as pure _dread_. She became cold, almost to the point of shivering. She sucked in a breath in shock, and hugged her arms in an effort to warm herself up, her face tightened in concentration. She was unaware of the wary look her master was giving her.

Unexpectedly the wind roared out,

 **"Facades!"**

this time in a deep masculine tone, the once soothing and welcoming breeze replaced by a raging torrent of chilling air that blew against the city and the people therein. They all turned and ran as _fast_ as they could. Ahsoka's heart became heavy. Somehow she just knew that, no matter what these people did, they would not survive.

She wanted to help them. Help them get to safety. Help them find their loved ones. Their children. Their parents. But it would be in vain. She knew this, but she didn't care! She couldn't just stand by and let-

 **"Helpless!"**

it roared inside her head, even louder this time. A massive shadow began enveloping the city, starting at a point, and then symmetrically increasing and increasing until the whole population was under a thick darkness. _No,_ she pleaded to whoever may hear. _Please, don't, don't do this! Leave them alone!_

As if it by her command, everything in her vision froze. The people, terror still plastered on their faces, were stuck in limbo as they were running away from the torrent. Gradually, everything she saw turned into a near-pasty white, like paper, and Ahsoka held back another gasp as everything crumbled and turned to dust, blowing away from her view. _Helpless_ she told herself, although to be honest, she didn't know why.

 **"Hopeless"**

the torrent spoke in a now hollow and serpent-like tone. Apparently the wind has many accents. At that word, Ahsoka yelped when she found herself floating, completely surrounded by a thick blackness. No ships, no stars, no nothing. Nothing but herself. She tried yelling for help, but no sound would come out of her mouth. She squirmed, flaying for arms and legs, trying to produce some kind of momentum. But whether or not she actually was, she couldn't tell. There was nothing to reference any velocity to. She was stuck. She could barely wrap her head around any of this. _Force! What's going on!?_ she pleaded to whoever might have listened. When no one answered, she hung her head in defeat. _Hopeless. So hopeless,_ she echoed, again wondering why in the Galaxy she keeps involuntarily repeating what the wind was saying.

 **"LIES!"**

She jerked her head back up, adrenaline suddenly pumping through her because this time, she knew it was talking directly to _her_. Ahsoka frantically searched all around her for the voice that sounded so near, but came up short. Panic attempted to ensue, and she tried to fight it. _I'm a Jedi. We're not scared easily._

 _ **"You cannot hide."**_

The panic came regardless. It didn't feel as if if came from within her, but rather it felt like a blanket of dread was placed on top of her. But the end result was the same. Her chest heaving and eyes wide open, she practically screamed, "Who are you!?" But again, nothing could come out of her mouth. Flashes of white light began to strobe at a consistently faster and faster rate, which disoriented her, until she suddenly felt a cold, clawed and scaly hand vice-grip her neck and pull her in.

Someone was there. _Right in front_ of her. A black silhouette of a face. Two protrusions that looked something between horns and wings were on either side of its' head. Black mist was oozing off of it's skin. Three eyes, two in their normal positions and one on its' forehead, above and in-between the other two, suddenly opened and shun their green gaze and pierced into her very soul. Ahsoka screamed again. It's mouth, filled with dozens of spiked teeth, opened up, producing a disgusting grin. She could smell the stench coming from his mouth, and it made her gag. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the creature roaring with all its might, right in her face:

" _ **I. SEE. YOU!**_ "

She knew what it saw... _Everything..._


	3. Prologue - More Questions than Answers

**A/N: Didn't realize it's been this long since the last update. Anyway, I'm adding background music to this story, now. Links are in my BIO as well as here, so whatever works best for you. I'll let you know when to play the track and which timestamp you should use. If I don't specify a stopping point for the music, just keep on playing it.**

 **I'm making chapters a bit longer, now.  
**

 **Updates will remain haphazard, and I might start working on another project. Maybe...**

 **|Tracks used:|**

 **1\. River of IO (1hr): watch?v=e2tUydQOrkA**

 **2\. Dark Ambiant (10hr): watch?v=e-4p9cDV6t8)**

 **I own none of the music used  
**

* * *

"Damage report!" the general exclaimed as he tried to grab a nearby control panel towards the bridge's bow to help lift himself off the cold durasteel floor.

"Computers are dead, Sir!" the clone officer replied with a choked cough. He looked back to the his blank monitor and panicked. "It's as if we were hit by an entire payload of ion torpedoes! Status indicators for comm, engines, life support, _everything_ is showing up as inactive."

|Track 1 at 0:00|

 _Then we can only assume the worst_. Obi-Wan removed his hold on the console and straightened himself, raising a hand to rub his head in pain from the impact. The blaring alarms and flashing red lights were certainly not helping his headache. " _As if_?" he questioned with annoyance while stretching his neck to relieve some discomfort. The clone looked to another beside him, as if silently asking him to provide a good answer. The Jedi raised a brow.

On cue, the other officer answered. "Well, to be honest, sir, we're not sure _what_ exactly hit us." Obi-Wan scowled. "All we know now is that the impact has send the _Defender_ tumbling towards Jakku."

 _What?!_ He put a hand to his beard. "But that doesn't make sense... With the direction the impact came from...if _anything_ , such an impact should have sent us _away_ from the planet." He fumbled out loud in frustration.

"Then I can only guess that we must have been pulled in, sir, rather than pushed. How? we haven't the slightest clue."

The Jedi master looked to the floor and sighed heavily, and said, "How long until the ship's systems come back online?"

The clone did a double-take towards his station, instinctively about to sit down and search his designated computer for answers, but then reminded himself of that situation they were in, and that everything on board had gone dark. "I-it's too soon to call, General. Inspection crews have not yet reported back on the full extent of the damage. I could only guess that if, whatever hit us, acted similarly to ion cannon projectiles, then the recovery rate would be similar to that scenario."

"Which is?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Three rotations, sir."

 _Blast it all!_ Obi-Wan looked turned around to look through the now-cracked viewport to the outside and saw the stars moving around haphazardly. Occasionally he would spot Jakku near the edge of the viewing port, only to move out of view again. _We certainly are tumbling_ he said to himself. He looked back to the clone. "How long until we impact with the planet's surface?"

"Hard to say, General. Could be anywhere from five rotations to one. With everything offline we can't use our equipment to determine our velocity, and we _certainly_ can't tell much by the view outside." Obi-Wan had to agree on that last statement; the view _was_ disorienting.

Obi-Wan then heard a groan to his left, and, turning, found Admiral Yularen on the floor. He began to move towards him.

The officer sat back in his seat, and stared into the now-empty monitor, his expression turning sour as he recounted past events. "Scanners were blank, general. We had no way of avoiding it in time. Obviously whatever hit us, hit us _hard_." He slammed the console with a fist. "And we were completely _blind_ to it!" he angrily spat despite the loudness of the sirens; not at the general, but at this whole kriffing situation.

Obi-wan calmly knelt beside the admiral, who had not moved at all. He turned him on his back and put two fingers to his neck to check his pulse, which, as far as he could tell, was at a lower rate than normal. _at least he's alive... But for how long?_. He sighed, and looked around the bridge, only to find many of the bridge crew in the same state as him. Those who weren't unconscious were either laying injured, or helping the others. Obi-Wan sighed. "Not completely" he replied to the officer, although he didn't bother saying it loud enough for him to hear.

|Pause Track 1|

* * *

|Track 2 at 0:00|

 _The Jedi was the only one looking out into space at the time. Yularen had gone to the comm room behind him. Due to the distance the_ Defender _was placed from Jakku to further avoid detection, it didn't take up much of the view. Suddenly he saw the dust ball begin to look...strange. Like it was..._ bending? How in blazes is... _his thoughts trailed into nothing. He did a double-take and rubbed his eyes, only to find it distort in the same manner; akin to the waves a pebble makes when dropped into a still pool of water. The whole planet, and the space around it, seemed to ripple in steady increments, that slowly increased in frequency...and then diameter. A few members of the bridge crew took notice, stopping whatever it was they were doing, and began to pile behind the Jedi, staring into space in shock. Obi-Wan took little notice of them.  
_

 _"What the slag?" one whispered._

 _Another looked to his buddy beside him, nudging his shoulder,plate. "You seein' this, too, bro?"_

 _"Y-yeah" he gulped._

 _"I_ swear _I'm not on spice-" a third began to comment._

 _"Admiral!" Obi-Wan shouted, interrupting the murmurs behind him. "Are you seeing this?!" Brisk, authoritative footsteps could be heard behind him shortly after. "Sir-" he stopped, but the Jedi didn't take his eyes off the anomaly. Yularen quickly moved past the troops to the general's side, mouth agape. The stars within line of sight of the sphere were next to distort as the ripples got bigger and bigger. And that's when he heard it. A low-pitched hum went along with every tremor, ominously drumming it's steady rythme to the beat of the invisible waves._

 _One of the terminal officers interrupted the murmur. "General!" he shouted. "We're getting an incoming transmission."_

 _That perked the old man up. He spun around. "General Skywalker?"_

 _"No, sir. We're...we're being hailed."_

But there's nothing out here, unless... _. "Put it through" he quickly replied, and then heard the admiral command the gathering to return to their stations. He didn't know if he and Ahsoka had made it to the surface yet. Maybe they were having problems. But he also couldn't help but wonder-_

 _His thoughts were interrupted when static came blaring throughout the ship's speaker system. Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened intently, the humming of the waves accompanying it. Who would have thought such an obnoxious sound could be so out of place it ended up sending chills down the spines of the crew? Obi-Wan then remembered the report talking about strange signals coming from Jakku. His ears began to pick out something amongst the noise. It sounded like breathing. Suddenly, amidst the static, an ear-piercing screech that would have done just that if not for the built-in audio equalizers, made it's way throughout the whole bridge. It sounded strangely feminine, and lasted for an unnaturally-long amount of time. "Who is this?!" The General demanded when it finally finished. It screeched again. It sounded like it was in terrible pain, but the screeching eventually turned into what sounded like_ laughter _. It kept laughing and laughing, the voice's pitch lowering with each passing second until it sounded disgustingly guttural._

 ** _"Goosh-Nagad_** _."_

 _The gutteral voice spoke in an unrecognizable language, making everyone except Obi-Wan jerk back in fright, although if one looked, the General's eyes did widen._

 ** _"Dahsh mahdey yahn_** _" it continued._

 _"This is Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Galactic Republic. Identify yourself!" the Jedi demanded.  
_

 ** _"GOOSH-NAGAD! DAHSH MAHDEY YAHN_!** _"_

 _Obi-Wan sighed._ Well, it _definitely_ isn't Anakin _he said to himself. It spoke again, but it wasn't just the one voice, this time. It was accompanied by many voices, and they kept repeating the same phrase, as if it was a battle chant._

 ** _"Goosh-Nagad. Dahsh mahdey yahn,"_**

they whispered.

 ** _"Goosh-Nagad. Dahsh mahdey yahn,"_**

and whispered, and whispered, and whispered...

 _At this point, one of the clones was nearly panicking, his breath hitched. He put both hands to his head and shook it. "Karabast! Is this place kriffing_ haunted?! _"_

 _"Someone get him under control!" Obi-Wan ordered, remaining composed. "Get me a translator droid!" he then said. Someone literally ran out of the bridge to find one._

 _Obi-Wan noticed how the chant went with the humming beat of the waves outside, which made him realize that said humming had gotten louder, and, looking back through the viewport, he saw that the waves had gotten_ much _larger. The ship was rattling at this point. All of a sudden, the chanting stopped, and the transmission cut, leaving the drumming being the only source of sound aboard. No one dared move, or speak. The General was dumbfounded._ What in blazes is going on? _Obi-Wan looked back at Jakku. He had seen shockwaves created by explosions before, which was the only thing he could think this was, but there was no flashing explosion at the center. No dust and debris flying everywhich way. And...hold up..._ This is _space._ Shockwaves don't travel through-

 _His eyes widened. He jerked himself around towards the crew. "Brace yourse-!" but it was too late, and everything turned to darkness.*_

|End Track 2|

* * *

|Resume Track 1|

A loud and deep gasp, followed by several harsh coughs, was all she knew to do next. Bright and hot light flooded her vision, forcing her eyes closed again. She felt a cold and firm hand on her bare back lift her into a sitting position. That touch was all she needed to know who exactly was helping her up.

"Ahsoka!" exclaimed Anakin. " _Easy_."

Ahsoka cleared her throat one last time, and she squinted as she raised her head, willing her eyes to adjust. "H...hello M...Mas-ter" she said weakly and raspily. _Must have blacked out_.

He smiled and gave a breathy, relieved chuckle. "Good to have you back, Snips." _Yup, I definitely passed out_. He looked concerned.

"You startled us, Commander" said a voice to her right. She looked over and saw Kot keeled beside her. She smirked tiredly. "S...ry" she tried to say.

He nodded and spoke slowly and quietly "I-it's okay, Commander. Just glad you're alright" he replied, patting her shoulder.

She shakily looked back to her Master. "Wh...et... Hapnd?" He was about to respond when her face contorted, cringing. She groaned.

The memory of the vision came flooding back into her mind, and she put a hand to her forehead. "Ugh. Th..at" was all she could manage. Her eyelids became heavy and she drooped forward when Anakin caught her and gently placed laid her back down. Now isn't a good time for questions. "Easy. Just rest."

She hummed in acknowledgement. She then heard a shuffling sound nearby. She turned her head to the right and found Kot again. He now looked like he was using his eyes and hands to search through his pack that he had set on the floor. _I think...Force, I'm out of it._ Ahsoka heard him mutter something in annoyance. He then grunted in triumph as he lifted up a medisensor, the device making a whizzing sound as the clone powered it on. "Gotcha" he grinned, and then looked over to his patient.

 _Patient_. At the sight of the device, her instincts kicked in; and this one, like many of her traits, were over time gained from Anakin, who himself usually _resents_ succumbing to medical treatment. She applied her weight to her hands in an effort to lift herself up again, but it was difficult. Her arms and abdomen wobbled in protest, an uncomfortable tingling sensation coursing throughout her limbs, as if they were waking up from lack of blood-flow. Ahsoka let out a grunt as she defiantly continued, not giving up for anything...at least until she was stopped when Anakin grabbed her nearest shoulder while Kot did the same with the other, effectively immobilizing her.

"Hup, bup bup!" Kot exclaimed as he kept her from moving. "Sorry Commander, but I need you to stay put for a tick while I scan you. And with all due respect," he said after pressing some buttons on the device and waving it up and down towards the togruta, "Eh...well...it seems like you're body is still waking up, at the moment. As if you had just awoken from anesthesia-induced sleep. So just relax, for now, and allow yourself some time for your senses to return."

Ahsoka could only manage her best death glare. "Anezeesa?" she slurred. "Why wood I-"

Her master knew that she was out of it, and cut her off. "Don't worry about it, Ahsoka. A lot of weird things have happened today. We're honestly not very surprised at this point."

She gave up with a huff and laid back on the floor of the-wait... The usually smooth floor of the LAAT was not so smooth anymore. Her brow markings furrowed a little in confusion. She could still see the roof of the transport, as well as the walls in her peripherals, but one thing that was off was right ahead of her, which was apparently home to an obnoxiously-bright light source. As she rubbed her hand across the floor's surface, she could both feel and hear rough grain-like particles grinding against both her palm and the floor. _Sand_ she determined. _But, why is there sand inside the ship? I mean, I know we're heading to Jakku, for Force's sake, but-_. She finally processed what her master had just said. _Uh oh..._

With a brief spike of adrenaline to boost the process, Ahsoka looked back to her master, wide-eyed. "Master, what happened?!"

Anakin looked to her hesitantly, and sighed. "Well...about that..."

* * *

 _What's happening to me?_ he chastised himself. He, the Negotiator himself, had been caught off guard. But how could he have known in time? No one had ever experienced anything like this. _I'm a Jedi. I've been trained for the unexpected. To always remain in tune to the- Oh, dear..._

Amidst the chaotic aftermath, Obi-Wan had not realized that his connection to the Force had become severely weakened. His perception, reaction time, intuition; _everything_ was boosted by the Force to some degree, but not anymore. Being just past his prime, Obi-Wan had recently begun relying on the Force to supplement his movements to stay on par with his once-younger self. The lack of communication between his midi-chlorians and the Force was...uncomfortable...shameful, even. He felt bare. Slowly, he stood up, albeit shakily, and turned back to the viewport, barely aware of the two clones that came to take the admiral to the medbay.

Blame aside, this was a prime example of what a delayed reaction time could cause. The entirety of the ship was at the mercy of gravity as it hurtled to their doom. Obi-Wan closed his eyes in regret. He then began thinking about Anakin and Ahsoka. _They must have crashed_ he surmised. _If this is what I think it is, then with the trajectory they were going, there's no way the ship wouldn't have been affected._ He had a momentary lapse of panic when he thought about what could have happened to them. but Obi-Wan quickly tried dispersing those feelings into the Force. _Tried_. He seemed to keep hitting some kind of a wall that would give a little, and then bounce back into place the moment he stopped. After straining, he was eventually able to break the strange barrier and lose the negative emotions that were clouding him. _The council will be simply flustered when we return_ , he thought.

A trooper came up to him, the colors of his armor were that of a chief engineer. "General, ship's status report just came in" he said as he handed him a tablet listing the damage.

(

Thrusters: offline, irreparable  
Main power generator: offline, irreparable with available materials

Comms: offline, irreparable with available materials  
Life support: offline, irreparable with available materials

...

)

The list continued the annoying trend. _This is worse than what any amount of ion torpedoes would cause. Is anything salvageable?_ He kept scrolling until he came across the last two in the list

"Hmm, it seems auxiliary generator and engines are functional" he mused. Obviously the gravity generators were still online, as well, since no one was floating. His thoughts returned to the engines. _They won't do much good, but we might be able to stabilize the ship._ He then looked back to the chief. "How long do you think we have without life support?"

"It usually takes around 12 standard hours for all the oxygen to be used up in a ship this size, Sir."

"And you're _sure_ you cannot repair it?"

"Unfortunately, yes, Sir. We can't even get it to recirculate the atmosphere inside the room it's housed in... That overload really screwed us."

"Indeed." Obi-Wan sighed. He looked back through the viewport. _Jakku is taking looking much larger now_.

"Although thankfully the auxiliary generators were able to keep gravity control, doors and elevators operational" he continued, but Obi-Wan's mind was elsewhere.

 _We're getting closer. And fast. We don't have time to fix anything, do we?_ he asked himself, but he already knew the answer.

His fears had been confirmed. Truth be told, he had already been mulling over the possibility ever since the Admiral got carried away. With how the _Defender_ was moving, if the engine room couldn't get the ship stabilized in time, and if everyone stayed aboard, they would risk a very heavy, unpredictable, and almost certainly unsurvivable landing, and that's assuming they all wouldn't die of CO2 poisoning beforehand, although at this rate that might not happen in time. And what would they be waiting for if they stayed, anyhow? The ship in this state is all but useless. Obi-Wan had to accept it; the _Defender_ was lost. Resigning to his decision, he quietly asked, "Are the escape pods still online?"

"Yes, Sir. They weren't powered on at the time, so they weren't affected. Are you...suggesting we evacuate?" the engineer added.

"If we remain here we will be partaking in a very risky landing, and that's assuming we don't suffocate first." Obi-Wan's expression became serious. "Head back to the engine room. See if you can get the _Defender_ stabilized for as smooth a landing as you can. After you either have done so, or have found that you simply cannot, you are to evacuate. _All of you_. Understood?" he ordered. The Chief saluted in acknowledgement and walked away. The General turned to a shiny clone that was passing by him. A new guy, by the looks of him. "Trooper!" he shouted. The clone turned about-face and snapped to attention. "Sir!"

"Since communications are down, I need you to carry a message to the medbay. Find out if the admiral is well enough to be moved. If so, have him be carried to an escape pod."

"Sir, yes Sir!" he replied and briskly turned and walked away.

 _The Admiral is not going to like not going down with his ship, unfortunately. Now, I'll shall need someone else._

He looked over to the rows of computer terminals, the officers assigned to them still at their station. Some were chatting with the one next to them, while others had opened up the service panel underneath, and were on their backs trying to fix anything they could.

... _The chatty one will do._

"You, there!" he shouted, pointing to someone who was in the middle of a conversation. He turned around. "Come here" he ordered as he began typing in the datapad he was given earlier. The clone made his way over. "Sir?"

"Rally the pilots in the hanger. Those whose ships are still operable are to meet at these rendezvous coordinates" he ordered, handing the man his datapad.

"Right away, General" and he exited.

He moved to place himself in the center of the bridge. Extending his arms out, he shouted. "Everyone! Attention, all!" All eyes went to him. "The _Defender_ has been crippled. Anything that has been powered on in any form as been destroyed beyond repair. We're...evacuating." They looked at each other. Obi-Wan could hear murmurs throughout the crewmen. _There's no time for that_. "Attention!" he shouted even louder, startling them back into listening. "Anything that has been powered down before we were hit, I want you all to gather. Rations, medicine, weapons, droids, a _nything and everything_! Sort them into the transports for takeoff. Communications are down, so word of mouth is all we have. This _entire_ ship needs to all be on the same page. Tell everyone, I mean _everyone_ to do that which I am ordering you. Tell them to pass it along.

No one is to be on this vessel by the time we depart. Those that can't fit into a transport are to use the escape pods. I will transmit the rendezvous coordinates to them myself. Those who fail to get off of this ship in time will be left behind." Cruel, he knew, but he also knew that if they didn't get off before they hit atmosphere, the evacuation would become much more difficult, if not impossible. "Any questions?"

Silence.

The General nodded. "Good, now hop to it."

Everyone began funneling out, picking up various things as they went along.

As for himself, Obi-Wan would be entering the rendezvous coordinates into one of the escape pods, and then use the comm system inside to relay the information to the rest. As he was walking, he couldn't help but wonder what became of Anakin. _Were they caught as well?_ He reached out, probing with his senses, but hit a wall, as he did before, except this time he wasn't able to breach it. _Not even the Dark Side is like this_. He could only hope that they were alright. "May the Force be with you both" he whispered. Although, for one of the few times in his life, he doubted if that would be the case; and he felt ashamed for even _thinking_ that.

* * *

"We crashed?!" Ahsoka exclaimed. "How?" Shortly after Kot had finished his checkup and found no lasting injuries, she had since been able to stand on her own and leaned against the stern of the LAAT. Anakin stood beside her on her left.

"We...don't know." Anakin said. "Right after you passed out, we were hit by...something. We can only assume that it was some kind of ion blast. The transport was rendered inoperable. The pilots had to steer us away from the drop-off zone and towards flatter terrain to give us chance of living through the crash at all. They...didn't survive." Ahsoka nodded solemnly and looked down in thought. With her cognitive abilities fully restored, she noticed that the side door to the transport had been left open, letting Jakku's sun shine inside, its heat contrasting with the cold of the ship., which at the time felt rather nice. They were leaning at an angle, however, so sand had been collecting on the opposite end, portside, whenever it was blown in by the wind. Off in the distance, on top of a small dune, she saw a clone sitting down, facing away from the group. Kot had moved off to the stern, which happened to be to her right, and he was checking his backpack again, lifting out multiple gizmos and testing their functionality.

She became curious and asked the trooper, "Hey Kot, if we were hit by an ion blast, why is some of your equipment still working?"

Kot turned to the Commander and responded, "Ion energy doesn't affect devices that are powered down, Ma'am. It requires existing current in order to overload anything." He then proceeded to remove his wristcom and wave it at her. "Unfortunately, our wrist comms and helm electronics are powered on nearly all the time when they're on us. We won't be able to communicate over long distance, nor will we be able to use our helmet's HUD."

"Therefore ol' Jansen over here is gonna have to rely on old-fashioned scopes on his rifle" said Captain Rex as he nodded in the direction of the dune. He stepped into the vessel. Ahsoka had nearly forgotten that he came along. He looked at Ahsoka and grinned. "Good to see you up and about, Commander."

She smiled in response. "Thanks Rex."

"What have you gathered?" Anakin asked.

Without missing a beat, the captain answered "I believe I know where we are, General. Since we planned beforehand to travel under cover of darkness, we know that the sun is setting at this time. A quick review of Jakku I made before departure states that the sun rises in the North and sets in the South, meaning that this way is West, this is East, etc." He said, extending his arm in each relevant direction as he went. "A few klicks East lies a rocky outcrop. I believe that is where we were supposed to land, so we can adjust are path accordingly."

"Did anyone see us?" Ahsoka asked.

"Jansen would have called it out if he saw anything, or _anyone_ , approaching. But obviously _something_ knows we're here, otherwise our landing would have been smooth-sailing." Anakin said.

"Should...we proceed as planned, General?" asked Rex hesitantly.

He didn't miss a beat. "Correct. I'd prefer us not to be ambushed here. We'll proceed at night to make us a harder target. Are your night-vision visors still operable?" He asked turning to Kot.

"External night vision is fully functional, but we can't use the NV built in to our helmets" he replied.

"Good enough..." Anakin said, looking at the ground. He tilted his head back to Rex, "Now, Rex," and then Kot, "Kot, if you two will excuse us." A duo of "Yes, Sir's" followed, and they moved themselves and their equipment out of the transport. He then turned to his padawan.

"Ahsoka?" Anakin asked gently? She looked back up at him, but he seemed hesitant. "Yes, Master?" she responded. "When you were feeling through the Force, you began speaking...incoherently. You looked like you were in pain, and afraid. Are you able to recount what you saw?" He gently asked with a hand on her shoulder.

She let out deep breath. "You might want to sit down."


	4. Prologue - Fall of a Little Light

**A/N: I HIGHLY recommend that you use the music provided. This story will revolve heavily around it. ESPECIALLY towards the end with the outros.** ** **If nothing else, just use the last piece of music on the list when called out.** Tracks are found here and in my Profile.**

 **Previous chapters have been combined and revised. I needed to do that for things to make more sense. The previous draft is no longer considered canon. This came about because I was finding a lot of inconsistencies between chapters. I recommend you reread them if you haven't already. Sounds like a cheap scam for views, I'm well aware, however this is how it is, and it hopefully shouldn't happen again. I'm trying, folks. I'm not exactly experienced.**

 **Anyway, thanks for the reviews. Let's me know that people are still interested, which is a huge boon for any writer. Keeps me going, ya know? Keep it honest. Keep it real.**

 **This chapter is a milestone. Button up your pants.**

 **MUSIC TRACKS USED:**

 **1\. Ambient Desert Music - (youtube dotcom slash) watch?v=svdbNil4fAI &t=2791s  
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 **2\. Ambient Space Music - (youtube dotcom slash) watch?v=3RhQkCyu5bk**

 **3\. The Bourne Identity, Main Titles - (youtube dotcom slash) watch?v=fwjNu4xbm_A**

 **(Disclaimer: In light of recent events, I am now claiming all original content for this story. Emphasis on "original").  
**

* * *

 **|Track 1 at 0:00|**

...

...

...

It would be a little while for the sun to fully set, so she recalled the vision moment by moment. Piece by piece, from the whispering wind, to the city and its destruction, and finally to the moments she encountered the beast. Her palms were involuntarily sweating despite her efforts to calm herself, but she otherwise remained composed. Her master wasn't as good at that. He was fidgety. _Impatient,_ but she knew he was listening. Intently. But she could see just how confused he was. He wasn't very good at interpreting visions to begin with, she knew. However that didn't stop him from asking questions. He was shocked when she told him what the monster had said.

"It was like...it didn't just _see_ me, with it's eyes. It's like it saw...everything. Who I was. What I'm like. What I've...done. Both good and...not so good." She looked away.

Anakin looked to the floor. She thought she saw him shiver, albeit barely, but she _knew_ she could feel his uneasiness through the Force, although even that was difficult to do, for some reason. _Something's wrong with the Force, here...and I don't like it_. Surely her master noticed this, too. Regardless, she continued.

"I felt...I don't know. It was disturbing. Frightening. Humiliating _._ " she added resentfully.

Anakin nodded in understanding, and it felt like he knew what she was talking about. _Really_ knew. Ahsoka had an idea why, but wasn't going to bring that up.

Some time passed before Anakin responded, chuckling. "And here I was asking you to merely expand your senses. Heh, that's my padawan. Always exceeding expectations." She rolled her eyes. She knew it was just an attempt to calm himself. Anakin then got serious. "Obi-Wan and I never felt or saw _anything_ like what you're describing, Snips. I...I don't know what to make of this."

"Me neither, Skyguy. All I did was reach out, like you said."

"Yeah, and apparently something reached _back and pulled you in._ All Obi-Wan and I felt was an empty area on this planet.

She shook her head, "Either way, this is _still_ not normal, right?"

"Right."

"Do you...think it's the Dark Side?"

He sighed. "No. It's _cold,_ but not angry. It's unresponsive. Numb. Dead, I-I don't know" he said, rubbing his forehead. "The Dark Side is never so passive. It craves. It hungers. It's never satisfied. It doesn't just... _sit around_. That's all I know. And we're apparently close enough to the disturbance that it's manifesting physically" he said, unsheathing his saber hilt and igniting it. It sputtered at first and then evened out, but even that quick glitch said enough.

"Oh."

Kyber crystals are the heart of any lightsaber, and have a strong and unique connection to the Force. They are not necessarily _powered_ by them, however. They simply _focus_ the energy emitted from a small battery pack, located inside the hilt, and, using the Force, project it into a colored blade of plasma. The other reasons for Anakin's lightsaber sputtering the way it did would be if a major component was damaged, or assembled improperly, which could have happened here.

"You sure that's not because of the power surge?" she asked.

"No, Snips. Our lightsabers were powered off before we were hit."

She removed her own sabers from her belt and ignited them, and received the same result. _Great. Just great_. Extinguishing them, she reattached them to her belt and sighed, resting her chin on her hand. The only other thing that would cause this is if the Kyber crystal's connection to the Force was compromised, and therefore could not focus the energy beam as effectively.

 _Nothing can do that. Not even the Dark Side could do that_. _What_ is _this?_ Her thoughts were brought back to her vision, to the city...and it's people. She squinted at the pain that memory brought her. She didn't know the context, but in the vision, all the emotions needed to understand what was going on were suggested to her anyhow. It hurt...

 _This is hard._

"All those people. Good, innocent, _people._ They were _frightened,_ Anakin." Very rarely will Ahsoka use his name to his face. "They all...died. Men, Women... _children,_ all gone" she said squinting her eyes shut, her voice reduced to a whisper, and sighed. She briefly, _very_ briefly, felt her master's mental shields go up when she mentioned the men, women and children, but then she felt him begin sending her waves of comfort through the Force to sooth her. She didn't question it. Anakin tended to be sporadic with his Force signature and shielding. There were just some subjects that made him do that. She speculated it had something to do with his past, but every time she asks him about it, he either redirects the conversation or simply declines to answer. Why, she has no clue, but she doesn't ask him anymore, even though her curiosity eats her away at times, and other times she just wants to _help_ him. It's annoying how he never seems to let anyone in. _Well, anyone except...her,_ she said to herself, and Ahsoka internally smiles at that thought.

Of course, by now she had put up her own shields.

The comfort helped. calm once again, she looked up and smiled warmly. "Thanks."

Anakin smiled as well. "Of course" he said, gently, in a way that had her wonder why she would expect anything less of him. "We're going to figure all of this out, okay?" he said reassuringly. Anakin knew she was very mature for her age, but there were times where her child-like vulnerability occasionally surfaced.

He didn't mind.

He was her teacher. Her father/brother-figure, similar to how Obi-Wan was with him. She said so herself once, after she, along with several others, escaped from Trandoshen sport-hunters. They went to Dexter's so that Ahsoka could recooperate. After that their bond grew even more, and he couldn't help but think of her as a...daughter, of sorts. Or a sibling. Something like that. He'd never been able to distinguish it enough, but he didn't care, really. Snips was Snips. He always helped her as best he could. And he'd never stop for anything.

"I just..." Ahsoka began, bringing Anakin out of his musings, "I don't know what to think. This is nothing like what I've learned back at the Temple _or_ out in the field. I'm _very_ unprepared." Her shoulders slumped.

Anakin shook his head, taking a deep breath. "I know that materials exist that block one's Force connection to anything outside" he said thoughtfully. "Certain binders are made of it. We have cells in the Temple made of the stuff to house Sith and other Force-sensitive criminals."

Her gaze immediately returned to him. "Do you think-"

"No. They only work when you're enclosed in it. It keeps the Force from getting out, prevents your will from manipulating anything beyond it's boundaries. We're not inside anything like that and we're _still_ being affected." He paused, sorting his thoughts. "My own connection has weakened. It's...disorienting, to say the least."

Ahsoka frowned, and leaned forward, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's not too bad. Just a little wobbly. Nothing I can't handle." he finished confidently.

She wasn't buying it, and raised an eye marking. "Even in a fight?" she asked incredulously **.**

He gave a signature cocky smirk. " _Even_ in a fight."

She couldn't help but grin and roll her eyes. _That does bring up a question, though._ _How's my own connection?_ Ahsoka doubted it was fairing any better. She couldn't discern Anakin's signature very well, so that was already a bad sign. But she thought of an amusing way to test her abilities more. Closing her eyes and concentrating, she discretely lifted a palm. Eyeing it, Anakin looked confused. It was hard, and her hand shaked a little at the mental strain, but she was eventually able to telepathically guide Anakin's lightsaber from his hand into hers, and do so quickly enough so he couldn't grab it back. "Hey!" he said accusingly. "Give that back." Ahsoka grinned at his child-like outburst.

"Well, at least we can still _use_ the Force." she said shaking her prize. "It'll just be a little harder, is all" she finished optimistically.

"Yeees" he said, drawing out the word. He opened up his own hand and yanked his lightsaber back to him. "We can." His light-hearted expression left as fast as it came. He looked down. "I hope Obi-Wan's alright."

Ahsoka hummed. "Do you think he was caught in it as well?" She asked. "The ion pulse, I mean."

He shrugged. "I don't know. The _Defender_ was directly behind us, but we don't know where the blast actually came from." He sighed and shook his head, lifting his head up. "Either way, we won't be able to call for pickup. We won't be getting off world any time soon."

Ahsoka looked at him quizzically. "Really? Is the ship that badly damaged?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Save for the pilots, the impact wasn't enough to kill us, obviously, but it _was_ enough to kill the engines, smash the stabilizers, rupture the fuel and coolant lines, fry the miniaturized life-support system-"

"Okay, okay" she quickly said, raising both her hands and moving them in a "stopping" motion. "You've obviously been _very_ thorough."

Anakin chuckled. "Oh, you know me and ships."

Ahsoka sighed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, do I... But, seriously, isn't there a town nearby? We might be able to find a ship there, wouldn't we?"

"The nearest inhabited settlement is deciklicks away, and certainly not on the way to the objective. Besides, there's a good bet that we won't exactly have acceptable currency on us" he shrugged.

She put a hand to her forehead. "Ugh. Why do some people not like credits?" She asked, laying back against the other side door.

"That's beyond me" he shrugged.

There was a pause. She tilted her head. "...We could steal one" she said quietly.

Anakin's brows shot up, but was otherwise undisturbed. "You're sounding like me, now" he exasperated.

"Well, then you must have at least _thought_ of it, haven't you?"

He sighed. "Yeah. I guess if it comes down to it, we will. But that's assuming we can _find_ one to begin with."

She rubbed her forehead. "Master, with all due respect, with how vulnerable and unprepared we are right now, why are we still going through with the mission?"

"We're not vulnerable, Ahsoka" he immediately replied. "We can still do this-"

"Our comms are dead, Master! We're crippled if we can't talk with each other."

"Then we'll stay within shouting distance. And we can still communicate through the Force" he retorted in a way that warned her to watch the way she spoke.

She ignored it. "Do you remember the _Malevolence,_ Master?"

He took a moment to process. "What's that have to do with-"

"After we exited the nebula, when we were dive-bombing the cruiser, dodging cannon fire. You could make it, Master, but _they_ ," she gestured outside with a hand, towards the clones that were in that direction, "the rest of the team, _couldn't_. We had to alter the plan."

Anakin looked over at them, thinking. "Why do you think they would be at a disadvantage? Other than lack of communication."

"I'm not talking about that, Master. I'm just saying that we would be marching into uncharted territory without a plan of retreat. If things go from bad to worse and we have get out of there fast, we'll be kriffed! Wandering through the desert! And I don't think we packed enough rations to hold us over until we get to civilization, assuming there's any to be found here" she said, spreading her arms out for emphasis. "And even if we find everything we'd ever want to know, what good will it do us if we're stranded? We'll die, and the intel with it. And..." she swallowed "to be completely honest, there's a good chance that Rex and the others wouldn't be able to keep up with us, as tough as they are. I _know_ you don't want that. None of us do."

He looked down and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Ahsoka waited for him to respond.

She continued. "We had to alter the plan back then, Master. I think we're gonna have to alter this one, as well. We should get out of here while we can."

After a few moments, Ahsoka being on the edge of her seat for the entirety of it, he finally looked back up at her. "And where would we go?"

"Anywhere with a ship" she replied simply.

"...You do realize that Obi-Wan would pick us up if we're down here for more than 5 rotations, right?"

She paused in surprise. "I...didn't catch that, I guess."

"We discussed it on the bridge." He barely smiled. "I was just about to tell him how much of a waste of time this whole thing is."

She didn't smile, and leaned forward. "Do you still think that?"

"No, not anymore. It's more than obvious that something wants our attention, and I intend to give it more than it bargained for" he replied darkly.

She shook her head. _It's a miracle I'm not as thick-skulled as him_. Her brows furrowed. "And do we still know that Obi-Wan is alright?"

"I...I can't probe him through the Force. I'm being blocked out" he responded.

"Would it be outlandish to assume the _Defender_ was crippled as well?"

A couple of minutes passed while they both thought. _Please don't be stubborn, Master._ Ahsoka said to herself, hoping.

"I think I see your point" Anakin finally spoke, and Ahsoka let out a sigh of relief.

"But-"

 _Fodder._

"-Our objective hasn't changed. _"_

 _Why!?_

"Master- _"_

"Listen to me, Snips. When we jumped out of hyperspace, there was no one in orbit aside from us. No one. Scanners showed up _completely_ blank. That's not normal. Maybe for a sad excuse of a planet like this, but even then I have my doubts. Tatooine usually has more traffic. And that's been the case for every most charted planets to date. But not here. And I can only think that the reason we crashed is why. _"_

 _...Oh..._

 _Then how did word get out?_

"Then how did we find out about this mess in the first place? _"_

Anakin rubbed his chin, instinctively resorting to his old master's habits when his mind is occupied. It was actually quite a sight to behold. Anakin makes fun of Obi-Wans quirks so much it's odd for Ahsoka to see _himself_ doing it. He shook his head. _"_ Shab if I know" he grumbled. "But that's not the point. _"_

She's still looking for a point in all of this.

"Who's to say this won't happen again once another ship gets close enough? The more time we waste, the more ships that may get caught in the same trap."

 _Oh_... _OH Force!_

"We weren't fired upon until we got into Jakku's orbit. We were fine until then. And we _don't_ know if Obi-Wan is alright or not. But my point still stands either way. If he's in trouble, there's a good chance he won't be able to provide evac. If he's in the clear and he sends backup..."

"...they might get caught as well..." Ahsoka finished for him.

 _Blast, I'm stupid._

"Exactly. I'm not going to let that happen" Anakin replied sternly.

 _That didn't even cross my mind..._

She took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Well, what are we gonna do?"

He shrugged. "Simple. We find the weapon, and destroy it" he replied nonchalantly.

 _How reassuring._

Ahsoka raised a marking in disbelief _. "_ And do we know where it is? _"_

"It was in the briefing, Snips _"_ he deadpanned.

 _Wha-oh, heh...right._

"The spire." she stated, and Anakin nodded.

"We don't know that for sure, but we do know that nothing else out here has that kind of firepower. It's our best bet."

Anakin looked to his left, passed the opened sliding door of the transport. "We should get moving" he said simply.

 _Hmm?_ Ahsoka looked in the same direction _. Oh. The sun's about finished setting._ "I wasn't paying attention" she admitted, and then easily stood up. _Huh. That wasn't so bad. Anakin said he was feeling weaker than normal._

Skywalker stood up after her, a little shaky, but well enough for her not to worry. He put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up.

"Besides, where there's a weapon that can reach us from that far away, there _just_ might be a ship, too" he smirked.

"Yeah, I guess." They both stepped out.

* * *

 _...Just realized I've never gotten a good look around_. It's the truth. Between recovering from her drowsiness to explaining to Anakin, at length, her vision or...whatever it was, she hadn't even exited the LAAT until now.

She saw Captain Rex talking with Jansen at the edge of the dune a ways in front of her. She involuntarily remembered their time at the shooting range back aboard the _Defender_ and ended up quietly laughing to herself. "I guess things nearly _have_ gotten bad, huh?" she told herself out loud, patting her lightsabers instinctively.

"Uh, what was that?" A confused Anakin turned around and asked.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, slightly embarrassed. "Uh, it's nothing, Master. Just...remembering something Rex told me before we took off." Anakin nodded, accepting that answer. He and his padawan were both friendly with the clones, more so than most Jedi, much to their disapproval, but Ahsoka seemed even more involved in their lives than he was. He knew she was good friends with Rex, and he often found her talking with Kot and Jansen in the mess hall. Not that Anakin approved of their _specific_ company.

Those brothers, while well-intentioned, had a reputation for being trouble makers. He still can't believe he assigned those two bafoons to this mission, but they _are_ good at what he needed them for. Heck, they were briefly enrolled to join the Bad Batch, but were ultimately turned down. Unlike that team of commandos, their "traits" were inherited completely by accident. The Kaminoians didn't trust that their accidental specialties were applied in a stable manner, and didn't want to risk putting them in extremely dangerous, and equally important, missions in which they could potentially break. Long story short, their situation is...complicated. They've been mostly of sound mind for as long as they been assigned to the 501st, Anakin noticed; save for the unusual amount of intellectual ranting from Kot and just general loudness from his brother. _Too skilled to put on the sidelines, and too undisciplined to trust,_ the General thought.

He then heard a hearty laugh from atop the dune. _Guess who_. He could see Rex coming down to meet them, Jansen following behind, slugging his DC-15A over his shoulder without a care. Anakin sighed. _At least Kot tries to fit in_. _Jansen's just...Jansen._ But ultimately, with clones with their skillsets in short supply, they had to be enough.

 _They better be up for what I'm about to assign them for._

They should be. They're not crazy...mostly. They can handle a little bartering. Right? _It's not like I'm asking them to kill a battalion of droids._

While they were walking, Ahsoka took a quick look around her. It was hard to see. It was nearly dark out, and she could make out the outline of the sunset on either side of the _very_ large dune they were currently at the base of. It slanted gradually but went up for quite a distance. Everything behind the ship looked...mundane. Dull, boring smaller dunes that rolled together endlessly. It was the same to her left, at least as far as the larger dune let her see. To her right, however, was another story. It was a mountain range. A rocky one, made of light-brown and darker brown stone. It also stretched past her line of sight, behind the dune. _That must be where we were supposed to land_. That didn't look safe. How could anyone land in a place like that? She remembered the hologram R2 produced back on the _Resolute._ It looked like there was a flat basin in the middle of the rocky landscape that seemed large enough to fit. _We were trying to stay hidden, after all. Guess it would've worked well,_ she mused.

Once Rex and Jansen worked their way down from their perch, Anakin asked, "Everything good, Rex?"

"Haven't seen anything, Sir. We're still in the clear" he professionally replied.

"You'cn say that again!" Jansen yelled, smiling as he slapped Rex on the shoulder-pad. The captain winced and glanced over to him angrily. Anakin just raised a brow, and Ahsoka looked down and shook her head, smiling. Jansen saw her try and hide her giggles, and just laughed. She looked back up and ended up laughing a little in response.

"You alright, kid?" he asked once they recovered.

"Yeah, Jay. Thanks for asking" she replied nicely.

Anakin cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him. "Are you done?" he asked bluntly. Jansen and Ahsoka sheepishly nodded. "Good, because we have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to-" he looked around. "Uhh, where's Kot?"

"Sec." Jansen said. Tilting his head up and funneling his hands around his mouth.

 **"...VOD!"**

Everyone ducked at the sudden shout. "Di'kut!" Rex reprimanded, moving to put an angry finger on the clone's chestplate. "Are You _trying_ to give us away?"

Jansen raised his hands in submission. "Like we said, No 'un's 'round" he replied casually. "We're fiiinne."

"That was still out of line, solider." Anakin said to him, eyes baring into him. Suddenly Ahsoka felt bad for the guy.

"Here!" a voice yelled back. Anakin and Ahsoka turned around and saw Kot come out from behind the wreckage. When Kot saw the General and Commander there, however, he quickened his pace and stood at attention. "Reporting, sirs!"

 _At least this guy's respectful_ Anakin mentally spat. "At ease, trooper" he replied, and the man relaxed, and looked and nodded to Ahsoka, who smiled back.

"Why were you over there?" Rex asked skeptically.

"Uhm, well, I was still going through our equipment, but I couldn't concentrate with all the noise, so I moved it all back a ways."

Anakin couldn't hide a smirk. "Noise huh?" he said, glancing back at Jansen.

"Y-yes, sir."

 _Believable_ Anakin concluded.

"And it's all still back there?" asked Rex, again.

"Uh, yes, it is. Should I go retrieve it?" she asked, jerking a thumb behind him.

Anakin shook his head. "In a moment." He spun around. "Everyone, I need your ears." he ordered, glancing over at Jansen specifically, who seemingly took the hint when he raised his hands submissively. Kot moved over beside his brother.

"The plan's been altered" Skywalker simply said.

"Sir-?" Rex began, but Anakin raised a palm in his direction.

" _Listen._ I talked with my padawan _,_ here, and we realized that we simply aren't prepared for this mission _._ We have no way of contacting the _Defender_ for evac, and without a way to get off world are efforts are wasted."

"Aww. We're evacin'?" Jansen whined.

"No, we're not." Anakin stated confidently. Everyone else just looked confused, except for Ahsoka.

"So," Rex began slowly, "What _are_ we going to do?" Anakin turned to him.

"Rex, during the briefing, do you remember seeing any settlements on the holomap?"

A moment passed. "Actually, Sir, I do. 50 klicks North-West, if I remember correctly" he said, glancing in that direction. "Telaveeb, I think it's called."

Anakin nodded. "That's the premise. The nearby settlement may just be in possession of one. But that's half the battle. If we just tuck tail and run as soon as we can, we would risk being paralyzed again, and we'd end up right back where we started. So, were gonna clear a path by finding whatever shot us down and destroy it. And I think we all know the best place to start looking" he said, looking past them in the direction the spire should be.

Rex caught on. "Sounds like we're splitting up, General."

"S-so, you want us g-grab a ship there?" Kot stammered, catching Skywalker's attention.

Anakin grinned. "That's right. Kot, Jansen, you're both heading North-West towards the village. Find a ship, _that works,_ and bring it back here and head South. _Look for us._ " He glanced at the others. "Rex, Ahsoka and I will be moving in that direction to locate the spire. If you can't find us, backtrack here and _wait._ "

"But it's a Seppie base, right? We cou'just take one of them ships!" Jansen spoke up.

Kot nudged him on the arm. "Uh, we don't know that, Vod" he whispered, but everyone else heard it.

Rex took a step forward. "We're not sure this _is_ CIS forces we're dealing with. The odds are greater that we find a ship in Televeeb than anywhere else."

"Besides, if it does turn out to be a bunch of Separatists, we'll just take one of their ships and pick you up" Anakin added.

Jansen sighed. "Was hopin' to blast some droids."

"Maybe next time, Jay" Ahsoka offered, smiling in sympathy. He shrugged.

Kot hummed, thinking. "I-if I may, I'd like to sp-plit the two backpacks between us. I'll s-sort out the equipment we'll both need."

After a moment to think, Anakin said, "Alright, Kot, but _hurry_. If we don't complete our mission in five day's time, others could suffer the same fate as us."

Kot nodded knowingly. He'd done the math, too. "I-I know, Sir. I...h-hope General Kenobi is alright." He turned around and walked behind the LAAT where he kept everything.

"Me too" Anakin muttered once Kot was out of earshot.

* * *

Kot had dumped everything out of both his and Jansen's packs. The grand total added up to:

2 thermal detonators

2 pairs of macro-binoculars that can double as night-vision goggles in a pinch

1 medisensor. _That's mine_.

3 torchlights. _Gonna be real handy at night_.

5 mini-flares

an extra DC-17 blaster pistol for emergencies

1,000RC. _Hopefully the natives accept this currency_.

and...5 packs of rations...

 _Blast_.

Who knows how long they'll be stuck here. Split evenly among everyone that's two days worth of food, which, while being enough for a normal, quick, scouting op, it will almost certainly not be enough now.

 _We'll be in a village. Villages have markets...food, right?_

The General's team will get 3. Jansen and him can ration out the other 2. It'll be a _very_ long trip (50 klicks is no joke) but they'll be alright as long they can find more food in a timely manner. The real concern lies with the other party.

 _I don't expect us to be fighting. They'll get the detonators and the pistol. Might as well give them one of the binocs and two torches_. _At this hour_ t _hey'll need it to see where in the heck they're going. We'll keep one flare. We don't need much, but they do._

He sorted all of those items into one pouch and set it aside. Sandy footsteps were heard behind him. "Heya!" Jansen called. "Done yet?"

He put the remaining gear in the other pack "Actually, yes, I am"

"Good, 'cause-" Something off in the distance caught his eye, and he raised his rifle. Kot's eyes widened, and his jerked his head around.

 _It's a...womprat?_

"Stay still 'ya little..." Jansen muttered.

"Jansen, wait!"

He pulled the trigger and the blaster began sparkling, and eventually spew out smoke. "What the?" he cried, almost dropping it.

 _Well, that's odd_ Kot thought. "What's that about?"

"'Dunno! She worked fine 'fore we took off" he said, disappointed, as he inspected his baby.

"Well, it wouldn't have been the ion pulse. Blasters that are on safe are disconnected from their battery pack. Unless...oh... Oh _Kriff_. Jansen! Did you leave your DC on fire again!?" he yelled.

"What? The only safety _I_ need is my trigger finger!" he retorted.

"Well, it didn't keep you're blaster safe this time, now did it?" he shot back.

"It never _mattered_ until now!"

"Well, now it does. We've now lost a good source of firepower all because you didn't flick a switch..." He spat, throwing his hands in the air.

Jansen looked away angrily, folding his arms. After a moment, his expression suddenly lifted, and he looked back. "Now, wait a tick! Yo' still got that boring-as-kark shorty, right? That'll do."

Kot sighed, rubbing his hair. "Fine. The carbine's in the LAAT, you oaf. I got no use for it anyway."

Jansen chuckled. They usually don't stay angry at each other for long. "Yeah, yeah, cough it up, Shiny." He dropped his rifle with a thud and spun around and began walking back, but then stopped. "Wait, ya' still need a spitter yo'self, Vod."

Kot grinned mischievously. "Oh, I think I'm good" he said, lifting the DC pistol out of the pack. _Guess I'll be keeping it, now_.

Jansen raised a brow, clearly unimpressed. "Eeh, I ain't so sure. Looks like one of the dinky squirts the Capn' likes." He jerked a thumb behind him.

The nerd rolled his eyes. "It'll be _enough_ " he exasperated "You just take _this_ " Jansen fumbled as Kot threw him a backpack "to the others."

"Right" Jansen said and walked back.

Kot wiped his face with his hand. _Careless, blundering..._ He sighed, picked up the DC-15A and both backpacks. _Shiny my-_. On the way back to the group he slung the strap of the rifle around his shoulder. _Could probably exchange this for food later on_ _, assuming our credits aren't acceptable._

"Kot, you ready?" Anakin asked, him and the others walking over to him.

Surprised, he spun around. "Oh! Uh, y-yes, Sir. I split the gear based on what we'll each be doing. We took the minority of the rations since the town'll most likely have food for us.

Jansen's eyes widened, mouth agape. "Vod! What're you-"

Anakin interrupted him. "Kot, you two will be traveling quite a distance. Are you _sure_ you'll be fine?" he asked earnestly.

Behind Skywalker, Jansen was shaking his head rapidly. Kot ignored him and nodded confidently. "Y-yes, Sir. We'll get you that ship. We won't let you down."

Anakin smirked. "We're all counting on it."

"Kark, I'm gonna starve" Jansen complained quietly as the two of them began moving away.

Kot laughed. "Vod, if anything you could use a little time away from the ice box."

He scowled, and pointed a finger at his chest. "You callin' me fat?"

Kot gave him a quick once over. "Eh, more like... _dense_."

"Ha ha" Jansen said dryly. Their banter moved into the background.

* * *

"Are you sure we can trust them with this, General?"

Anakin sighed. "We're gonna have to, Rex." He turned around to his padawan. "Alright, Snips, let's get moving." Rex slung the backpack around him after removing a couple torchlights and the macobinoculars. He tossed a torch over to her. "Probably gonna need that."

"Thanks" she said. They both followed behind Anakin as they passed the right side of the dune. They soon came up to a drop off. Not a cliff, but a steep, sandy decline. The mountain range was still in view on the right, but ahead was flat terrain for as far as the eye could see to the South. She could see where it ended to the East, but it was still deciklicks away. The base edge of the mountains to the West formed one side of the perimeter, and was littered with boulders and other oddly-shaped rocks. The ground wasn't entirely sand, either. It was flat, and littered with small cracks. Almost like-

"Was this a lake once?" Ahsoka nearly whispered.

"Don't know" replied Anakin. "Jakku was rumored to be a water world at one point in its' life. But that was thousands of years ago. There's no way this place would be preserved for that long."

"But that isn't the problem" Rex said, giving the General a knowing look.

"Yeah" he sighed. Ahsoka noticed the exchange, and rose a marking. She looked back to the basin and-

 _Oh...Uhm..._

"Master? We're looking for a spire, right?"

No one spoke for a little while, both unsure of what to say. Rex finally broke the silence. " _This_ is when it's good to know how to go off of unreliable intel." Ahsoka turned to him, and then back to Anakin. "Well, he's right in a way, Snips."

"Wanna fill me in?" she deadpanned.

He sighed. "Look. The way we got word of all this in the first place was...sketchy."

"How so?" she asked.

"That's unimportant right now" he replied hastily.

"Why? You don't trust me?" she challenged.

She remembered all too late how uniquely intimidating Anakin's scowl is. "This has nothing to do with trust, _my padawan_ , and everything to do with confidentiality. The Chancellor entrusted only certain Jedi with knowledge of the source. Why that is, even I don't know. But _that_ is how it works."

Ahsoka huffed. "I don't remember you being so concerned with protocol, Master."

"Only when it's important" he retorted.

She didn't buy it. "I specifically remember you telling me you thought this whole thing was a 'waste of time'." Anakin looked away at the basin. "This is only because of the Chancellor, isn't it?" Ahsoka, to be honest, didn't really know what the think of the old man, but she knew Anakin thought very highly of him, and for some reason that just didn't sit well with her.

Anakin pinched the bridge of his nose. "Rex, maybe _you_ should explain it to her. We'll be heading towards the mountainside. The rocks'll give us better cover."

Rex rubbed the back of his neck. "Oookay" he breathed, and then put his helmet on as they walked. It was a little difficult to maintain balance walking down the sandy slope. He explained to the Commander how it was possible for data to be misunderstood. The intel suggested a spire, but also a sinkhole. It could be both, or it could be one or the other. It could be something else entirely. The exact location could be off, too. By tens of klicks, even.

They reached the rocky side of the basin, and Ahsoka still wasn't understanding something. "Okay, that's all well and good, but how do we even know if we're going in the right direction?"

Anakin looked over his shoulder. "Jedi don't always have to rely on maps, Snips. My senses, while compromised, are still telling me that this is the right way to go."

She accepted the answer and dropped the subject, moving past huge boulders as they went. At this point she was hoping it wasn't a spire, because with how flat everything around her is, a tall structure like that would have to be nearly beyond the horizon to be hidden like that. Which also means they would be walking for a _long time_. Or it could be hiding behind the mountains, which they would have to climb over.

 _Great. Well this is gonna be fun._

 **|End Track 1**

* * *

 **|Track 2 at 0:00|**

Hours passed. Night had officially fallen, and not much was said between them. The crackling layer of sand between her feet and the dry and cracked earthy floor and the clanking of Rex's armor were the predominate things she heard, with the occasional howling of some creatures in the distance. Earlier she learned, rather humorously, that Rex has developed a phobia of snakes when one jumped at them from out of a crevice between a rock and the ground. Rex yelped and fell on his back and Ahsoka, after igniting her shoto, moved and decapitated the fiend. Anakin just rolled his eyes and motioned them to move on, but not before she heard Rex mutter " _I hate snakes_."

But there was something else of note. When she killed the serpent, Ahsoka's lightsabers were sputtering even more. Her connection to the Force was weaker then before they left the LAAT. She couldn't project her senses out more than a few meters. The strange thing is that she wasn't feeling weak, necessarily. She was moving around just fine, while her master, on the other hand, had noticeably declined in stature. His shoulders were slumped to a degree, and his breathing seemed a little strained. When she asked him if he needed to rest, he brushed it off, instead telling her that this is how he knows their heading in the right direction.

Back to the present, Ahsoka had noticed something strange. Stretching out her Force signature, she could feel the coldness of the anomaly. It was more concentrated in front of her than behind. She then felt a prick in her mind. Another disturbance reaching into her feild from the outside, much smaller and pinpoint than the bigger picture. It felt like it was itching at her mind, calling to her. It was cold, but not ominous. It still felt different, and out of place in the Force. Something inside of her seemed to respond in kind, harmonizing with the faint signal.

"Master?" Anakin stopped and turned around. "Do you feel that?" she asked.

Anakin closed his eyes, concentrating. "Nothing new" he eventually replied. "Why?"

"I'm sensing something. It's...smaller... _different_. It's coming from over there" she said, pointing to her left.

Rex looked in the same direction. "That's East. The middle of the basin."

"It could be trap" Anakin said.

Ahsoka shook her head. "I don't think so. I don't feel any warnings in the Force."

"There isn't much Force here to feel, Snips. I don't think we can just dart towards any and everything we sense, especially in an open area with no cover. We need to stay focused."

"Master, I need you to trust me" she countered earnestly. "It's calling to me. I _really_ feel like I need to check this out."

She didn't know why she felt so strongly about this all of a sudden. She simply wanted to know. She _had_ to. She didn't know why, and she didn't care.

She was being summoned. She would answer.

Anakin sighed, covering his face with a hand, and then removed it. "No, Ahsoka. We need to stick together. It's just too risky."

"But I-"

"Snips, don't make pull rank" he warned.

She drooped her head, relenting. "Yes, Master."

 **|End Track 2|**

* * *

 **|Silence|**

Another couple of hours passed. The prickling had gotten stronger. More irritating. Like an itch that needed to be scratched, she _had_ to know. _Had_ to find out. Her pace slowed, and Rex about passed her up when he noticed her posture. Her eyes were closed, arms hugging herself with her torchlight illuminating everything to her right. She hadn't even bothered to turn it off. He put his hand on her arm. "You okay?" he quietly asked. She opened her eyes and glanced at him, nodding, though her expression didn't change. "Yeah. I'm alright" she replied quietly. "You go on ahead."

Rex removed his helmet and gave her a skeptical look. "You've got something up your sleeve, don't you?" he whispered.

Ahsoka looked back to him, eyes pleading. " _Please,_ Rex. You know how protective Anakin is. There's... something I need to do. I won't be long."

Rex sighed. He _did_ know how rash the General could be when a situation involved someone he cared about. It had almost cost them greatly at times. Though he would have to agree with him on this one. What could be out there anyway? It's literally an open field. There's no way there can be anything there. But at the same time he knew when his knowledge ended and a Jedi's began. _They've done weirder stuff in the past_ he reasoned. "It won't be long before he realizes you're gone" he said.

"That's all the time I need" she replied.

Rex shook his head, wiping his forehead with a gloved hand. "Fine. Just...be careful, will 'ya?"

Ahsoka smirked mischievously. "Oh, you know me, Rex." The captain merely rolled his eyes before putting on his helmet again, and quickened his pace, leaving her behind. Turning off her light, she changed course, turning left out of the cover of the rocky perimeter and into the vast openness of the dry basin. She kept her signature extended. Not enough to reach her Master, lest he realize too soon that she had left, but enough to keep tabs on the little feeling calling to her. The feeling got stronger and stronger as she walked, the disturbance precisely poking at her mind hard enough to threaten injury...or at least it felt that way. She hadn't even bothered to use her torchlight. She wasn't seeing with her eyes, anyway.

The direction shifted suddenly. She turned around, meeting the facing the compass pointer in her mind, and continued walking, only for the direction to shift once again. _What's going on?_ she thought. She concentrated more, closing her eyes and slowing her breathing. It was very hard to use the Force at this point. Her connection had been nearly severed, yet she stood tall. She felt a prick again, and it originated from the sole of her boot.

 _It's underneath me._

Ahsoka couldn't even tell if she was in the pilot's seat anymore. Her body almost felt like it was moving on it's own when she outstretched both of her arms and moved them in a swirling motion. The ground began to crack, a layer of sand that covered the surface began blowing away. And blowing, and blowing. Until she realized that she wasn't standing on dirt at all. _There must be another dip in this area_ she reasoned, and she was proven right as the sand kept lifting and swirling around her. She had to hold her breath as the stony dust continuously peppered her body. She didn't feel normal. This isn't how the Force normally feels, but at the same time it felt so... _natural_. But how could she accomplish such a feat when she was, for all intents and purposes, nearly cut off from the Galactic Binding? Yet here she was, creating a miniature tornado like she wasn't impaired whatsoever, her arms continuing their circular motion, the debris thereof scattering every which way, uncovering a large crater that stood out among the remainder of the flat, presumably once-ocean, floor. She stopped, head and shoulders drooping from the strain. She took several deep breaths.

 _What did I just do?_

She opened her eyes, hands rubbed the sand out of their corners and brushing herself off. She and saw a crater. _This looks way out of place_. _Did something...crash here?_ She looked further down. Her eyes widened. She saw something. In the midst of the sand that remained collected at the bottom she could make out two objects. they were close to each other, but were not touching. She slid down the sandy slope and knelt in front of them. To her left was a crystal, glowing a brilliant transplant white, illuminating Ahsoka's surroundings. She picked it up. It was _heavy,_ carrying a lot of substance, yet was only the width of a pinky finger's length, and two palms long. _Is this a Kyber crystal?_ She couldn't feel the Force coming from it. In fact, she could feel the coldness it exuded. Not physically. Physically it was warm, but not hot enough to burn. But through the Force, her midi-chlorians were shivering. It pulsated in regular intervals, it's white light seeming to flow within the crystal like how blood pumps throughout the exoskeleton of a crustacean, dumping it's fluids directly throughout the body rather than funnel it through blood vessels. It looked alive, almost, though she wouldn't take that literally. She placed it back down.

The second object was...different. It looked artificial. Spherical, at least at it's core.. A black circle is what covered the untouched surface of the small grey-colored sphere. All other sides were covered by a total of 5 white tetrahedrons, each placed at all of it's axial poles. It was weathered, scratched, dented, like it had been battered for years, unprotected from the elements. she could make out hints of rust on the edges of it's...fins, she guessed she could call it. She gingerly scooped it up with both of her hands, and brought it to face level. _What are you_? she questioned. _You must've been here quite a while_. _Are these what called me?_

Moving the orb to her right hand, she used her other to pick up the crystal. As soon as she touched it, however, she heard a loud *ZAP!* Her body locked up, eyes about to pop out of her head as she involuntarily looked skyward. She moaned in pain and shivered in a manner similar to someone getting electrocuted. Her body felt like it was on fire, her hands feeling the hottest, and then she felt her chest explode, releasing a thundering shock wave of brilliant light that flashed across the whole basin. She fell limp, landing heavily on the sandy, dirty ground, picking up dust around her, dropping the two objects.

" _These are your first steps_ " a voice whispered in her mind. It sounded eerily feminine. Similar to how the Beast sounded when it first spoke to her. She didn't have time to form an opinion as her vision darkened.

When she came to, she could hear a high-pitched yelp followed by a humming sound that seemed to be mixed with...chimes? A blue hue enveloped her eyelids, stimulating her. She struggled to open her eyes, but when she did, she found that the two objects had disappeared. "Blast! Where'd they go?" She got up as quickly as she could, and after scanning the ground with her torchlight, turned around and climbed out of the small crater.

She stopped in her tracks. She couldn't believe it. She literally _couldn't_ believe it. Mouth agape, eyes about to pop out of her head, she stared into a massive structure that occupied space that previously she _knew_ was not occupied before, within the basin they all traveled through. It reached to the sky, cubic and rectangular blocks of something that resembled concrete was haphazardly placed in a very _unsafe_ manner, yet it held. Ahsoka could also see ghostly white lines that would appear, trailing either up or down depending on which one you looked at, and then disappear. Copper-like wires and frame-like designs were etched into it's entirety. At the base was a massive copper circle, a bright white light taking up it's center, with several flights of wide stairs leading up to it, acting as an apparent entrance. And all of this a mere half-klick away from where she stood. She could've sworn she saw hints of greenery.

 **|(Outro) Track 3 at 0:00|**

Closer to her, however, was a floating object. It was the tetrahedron-filled orb, floating close to her. It was zooming towards the structure when it suddenly stopped, and turned around. The once-black circle was now filled with a blue light at the center, as if it acted as a single eye. Ahsoka and the orb stared each other down, none of them daring to move. It wasn't very far away. She could try to call it to her with the Force. It seemed to work last time when she uncovered the orb to begin with. But for some reason, she didn't.

If it was even possible, the orb's demeanor looked...hesitant. Weary, as if it had been through a lot in it's life. It moved a little towards her, then backpedaled, afraid to approach. It look back and forth between her and the alien structure before them. Finally, it uttered something. It's language was unrecognizable, but it didn't sound threatening. It was a higher-pitched voice. Though not as high as the voice in her head, however.

 _What are you trying to tell me?_

It made up it's mind when it turned back and zoomed away, towards the stone staircase.

 **|(Outro) Track 3 at 1:07|**

* * *

 **PROFESSOR ETCETERA PRESENTS...**

* * *

Off to her right she heard Anakin shout to her. She knew then that she hadn't been out for very long, since there's no way they didn't hear her cries of pain, not to mention the shock wave that was sent out of her. She didn't tear her gaze away from the ominous building, however. She thoughtlessly began a slow walking pace towards this new discovery, awe still a very clear expression she wore.

 _The Spire..._

* * *

 **STAR WARS: THE LAST  
**


	5. Sands of the Hourglass

**Hey there! It's been a while, huh? Remember the whole plan I had back in the last update? Forget it. I'm just gonna wing it.**

 **Again, I highly recommend you use the music suggested. You can find them both here and in my BIO.  
**

 **TRACKS USED(All are from YouTube):**

 **1\. Destiny - The Great Unknown (Extended): watch?v=bQc4lVBWwsM  
**

 **2\. Star Wars Ambient - Tatooine: watch?v=7H8kDHEiuKU**

 **3\. Destiny - Guardians Lost (Extended): watch?v=VYZYXYao6jg**

 **4\. Destiny - Lost Horizons (Extended): watch?v=A6YlKM8fLX8**

 **I welcome your input, and thanks for waiting.**

 **P.S: Some info about this new character:** ** **Remember Khan from Star Trek: Into Darkness? Played by Benedict Cumberbatch? This new character's accent and physicial mannerisms parallel Khan a lot.  
****

* * *

 **(Silence)**

The top edge of Jakku's sun was barely peeking over the horizon by now, and the structure cast a massive shadow over and around her from what little light still remained.

She barely had time to rest her left foot on the first step when Anakin and Rex caught up to her. Her master grabbed her right shoulder. "Ahsoka!" he shouted, shaking her.

Her glazed eyes came into focus, as if she was brought out of a trance. She shook her head before turning around. Her cheeks suddenly became a shade darker because, at the moment, she didn't exactly know _what_ to say to him. "Uhh" she started dumbly before lowering her head and wearing a guilty smile. "...Sorry?"

Anakin seemed to be too angry to notice her awkwardness. "What in blazes were are you doing?!" he scolded before inhaling loudly. "I told you..." he breathed again, "...to stay with us!"

"I'm sorry!" she apologized again, raising her head to look at him. "But look!" she said, turning her head and extended arm and finger towards the mass protruding out of the ground. "We found it! It was a giant spire the whole time!" she added, looking back to him. However, she soon noticed how much downward pressure he was applied to her shoulder, his heavy breathing registered in her lekku, and the way he soon slumped over.

"General?" asked a worried Rex who was standing behind Anakin and to his right.

Anakin grunted as his knees gave, and Rex was quick to link his forearms with the underside of Anakin's armpits, supporting him and slowly turned and lowered him to the stairway, lying on his back, head resting atop one of the steps. The Jedi fidgeted so the step's corners applied pressure into less uncomfortable spots on his back.

Ahsoka, again dumbfounded but not to the magnitude of last time, kneeled next to him. "Whoa, master. Are _you_ okay?"

Anakin's eyes were closed and his breathing still heavy. "Drained..." he strained to speak. "Something's..." a breath, "draining my energy."

Ahsoka glanced away, thinking, before she looked up, ahead of her. "Do you think it's that?"

Anakin pryed his eyes open. It looked like a brow a raised higher than the other. "What else?" he replied dryly.

"It looked like you were getting progressively worse the closer we got, Master" Ahsoka informed.

"Sure..." he breathed, "...felt like it..."

During this, Rex had set his pack on the ground. He rummaged through it briefly before closing his eyes and slumping his shoulders. "Damn," he grumbled, realizing just how minimal their supplies were. Nothing medical whatsoever. The only thing that would even remotely help the General was a mere ration pack.

 _Manda, let us never go on another mission without resupplying,_ he prayed.

Standing up, he turned to the weakened Jedi. "This is all we got, General" he said, pulling apart one side of the rapper. "Here," he added, kneeling down near Anakin's other side and putting it in his robotic hand.

Anakin's breathing had relaxed a little by now. He cringed when he raised the bar to look at it. "I hate these things" he mumbled before setting it back down. "We should ration these out" he tried to protest, but his padawan wouldn't have it. "Just rest, Master. Let Rex and I check out the place."

The Jedi puffed. He was able to lift a weary finger at her. "This doesn't get you off scott-free" he warned. Ahsoka was about to respond, but Anakin just closed his eyes, his breathing relaxing further. She decided against it, leaving him to rest up, and resigned herself to simply say, quietly, "Oh, believe me, I know" and started the climb. Rex soon followed after her.

* * *

 **[Track 1 start]**

 _ **"Nowan vantould; su'me 'Dar"**_

{

#External stimuli detected. Booting from stasis...

ShowProgress;

#1%

…

#Onlining memory cores...

OnlineMemoryCores(3,4,5);

ShowProgress;

#5%

}

Flashes haphazardly lit up the void of his processor. _Knowledge_. He knew it _all._ From the biology of lifeforms that humanity had never yet come across to the molecular placement of every atom and how it affects its interaction with other atoms, and knowing what each minute change of that placement could do. From mastering the art of the Simulation to the creation of dark matter. From opening a door to the fifth dimension so one can instantaneously travel throughout the other four at will, to the exact age of the universe. From their first interaction between Oryx and Quria in his throne world, to the entire history of hundreds of inhabited spheres, including...his...

 _Home..._

 _Not anymore._

 _ **"Hash'nazg vedoe; wahir Arjul"**_

{

#Memory cores online. User access granted for cores (3,4,5).

}

He was lucky. That process does _not_ normally go well.

{

#Beginning mass initialization of main components...

Initialize(SpeechProtocol);

Initialize(LoadVocabularyAndAccentPreferences

[SophisticatedSmooth, BaritoneEnglish]);

Initialize(OpticalSensory);

Initialize(AudialReceptors);

Initialize(MockNeuralArray);

Initialize(MotorskillSubroutines);

Initialize(ArtificialEmotionalFeedback);

...

Initialize([O]Patch);

#Error! Could not load function [O]. Skipping...

…

ShowProgress;

#23%

}

 _ **"Boshned ahsiar; Klouv 'foi na'quar"**_

He felt numb. Cold. Dead. _Normal_. In a way he was used to it. Used to the cold. The unfeeling. He paid it little heed.

He knew as much as _they_ knew. At least for as long as he'd been like this. Over the course of his stay he had forgotten how to distinguish his thoughts from that of his foreign leech. Over time, he had forgotten that he was, in fact, _not_ one of them. That which he knew, the undeniable _genius_ he and they shared, was beginning to be stripped away from him. A part of him thought it terrible and violating to swipe such genius from a using-mind, but as it went and his sense of identity returned, he remembered it didn't belong to him. It _never_ did. Regardless, as this happened, a question formed, one that he could not shake off: what if they were siphoning information that _was_ his own? _That_ would be unacceptable. They had full, free rein to examine his mind and all that was stored within, and that freedom was mostly reciprocated. Information could be accessed and potentially altered or removed, from either party. But despite how violent their peoples have been in days forgotten by life, given the circumstances that led up to this point, this deal that had been struck was a risk worth taking.

Or so he hoped.

He could feel them flowing throughout his neural net. Yes, he could _feel_ now. Of course, to him it was just a series of ones and zeros, as expected, but it gave passive feedback. That was enough. Tendrils that wrapped around his helm-no, they covered him entirely-had begun to loosen, shrink, and fall away, granting line of sight to his optics which have yet to online. The radiolaria that encased his form had begun to drain. A digit twitched. He didn't mean for it to. The rebooting process had the unfortunate habit of not being as easygoing, or even logical, as one would assume-

{

ShowProgress;

#49%

Initialize(NerveEndingPing);

}

 _Pain_...

It was a test, he knew. This routine is always run during the beginning of a full boot to ensure his nervous system was operational without hiccup. His kind suffered extensive issues in this area during the iteration of his older model. Preferably, each sensor would return back with the same positive value, indicating they all worked as intended and he wasn't unknowingly numbed in any sort. It was necessary in case another routine conflicted with it, in which case such info would be relayed to the Director. It had to be a full positive; not a fraction of "one", in which decimals represented a minimal spectrum of feeling, but "one" itself; the highest registerable value.

This level of intensity...hurt, to put it simply. Pain tended to feel rather watered down to him. This was an exception. The agony was vibrant, colorful, sharp, and crystal clear, and there was nothing he could do about it. The pain outshun his thoughts and always seemed to go on for much longer than his internal clock displayed. Strangely, he noticed he had a minor amount of mobility now, so he grit his mouthpeice shut, squinting his brows and lower lids, servos molding into fists, concentrating on functions other than what currently took automatic precedence.

He never spoke. Never uttered a sound in agony. He made sure he stayed as silent as death. He had been making sure since...for a long time, whether it was necessary at the time or not. It was vital he increased his pain tolerance as quickly as he could. If he were to create noise when he awoke he would lose any sliver of an advantage of surprise if he was captured for interrogation or held for ransom.

Not that anyone would actually bother to keep him alive at such a point.

 _ **"Hulrim Won'Filree;**_ _ **Jak'ume yahn**_ _ **"**_

 _We shall go on_ _..._

That voice. It wasn't his. It didn't belong to him, yet it was in his head. But who... _what,_ is talking- _Ah, of course. My...symbiote. Posses you not any chants of your own?_ he spoke mentally, and with a hint of bitterness. As much as his kind could produce, at least. He knew his thoughts could still transfer into the mass of intelligence through what currently remained of the draining mind fluid that stuck to his titanium/plasteel-composite skeleton. But...

{

#Error! Optical sensory malfunction. Diagnosing...

}

 _This again? Lo Vohd,_ he moaned. _Vohd...Ghost!_ Before he could realize what he was doing, his helm shot up, banging against an unknown object with a cringe and hiss-worthy thud. It was solid, for sure. With the force he exerted he may have dented his forehelm. But that was the least of his problems, since he seemed to be, currently, trapped.

"Rrrrrreeellllleeeaaaasssse m-m-m-meee" he tried to command. His vocal box drawn out and stammered, littered with intense static and other electronic interference. _Shulday!_ he mentally swore. He could never smoothly awake from stasis if his very Spark depended on it. Still being in partial shutdown wasn't helping, either; acting as a kind of sleep paralysis.

{

#Diagnostic complete. Optical arrays are fully functional.

ShowProgress;

#99%

...

#Mass initialization complete. Passing user controls from Director to host. Waking up...

}

 _ **"Do you know what you are?"**_

 **(End Track 1)**

* * *

 **(Track 2 Start)**

In the back of her mind Ahsoka was wondering where the orb had floated off to. Somewhere down the line she must of lost track of it, and it was currently nowhere to be found.

"There's no way this is Separatist." Rex mused to himself.

Overhearing, Ahsoka replied dryly over her shoulder, "You think?" She then stopped, and after thinking briefly, faced him fully. "Rex?" The captain gave her his full attention at the mention. "Did you see what happened?" She asked tentatively.

Rex looked down with an incredulous expression, cranked his head to the side and let out a puff of air. "It just..." he shook his head, trying to find words to use, "Materialzed. Outta thin air." He looked back up at her, ahead of the stairway. "Then there was you before that."

The Togruta raised an eye marking. "What do you mean?"

Rex's lips were pursed as he away. "You were glowing somethin' fierce, Commander. We felt the shockwave from all the way where we were standing." His expression lightened with a light laugh. "Screams didn't help the General's mood, either. Which reminds me," He looked back at her again, this time his more interrogatory, tone becoming serious. "What exactly happened to _you_?"

She glanced away. Honestly, she hadn't the _slightest_ clue of what happened. "I just... I followed a premonition and found these two...objects. One looked like a giant Kyber crystal. They both disappeared when I woke up."

She could sense Rex was regretting bringing up that line of questioning. "Well..." he coughed, "I'm not well-versed in the Force, Commander. This sounds like something for the General when he's able."

Ahsoka tried to hide a grin, then turned around and starting climbing the stairway. Not too soon after she heard a voice call out.

" _Hello!? Anyone home!?"_

She stopped in her tracks and jerked her head up, frantically swiveling her head every-which way. Rex abruptly halted behind her. "Commander?" He asked.

"Didn't her you hear that?" She asked, glancing at him over her shoulder.

Rex awkwardly shook his head. "No, Ma'am. I haven't heard a thing."

Rex was clearly trying his hardest to make sense of it; he really didn't hear anything. Eventually Ahsoka grew impatient and walked on with a wave of the hand.

Once they reached the top of the stairway they crossed several more steps before coming to stop next to the giant copper-esque circle. It was roughly three to four times her height in diameter. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a door. _How do we get inside, though?_ she thought to herself.

Two _loud_ metallic thuds reached her lekku and she recoiled from the adrenaline rush of such a surprise. It sounded like it came from the door itself. _Is someone behind it?_ She looked back at Rex who, once again, looked completely clueless and out of the know. "Okay, you _had_ to have heard that" she nearly pleaded, but the Captain just shook his head again. "No, Ma'am. Just the wind." He paused before adding, "You are a Jedi, Commander. Maybe it's the...Force" he suggested hesitantly, vaguely cocking his head to the side.

She peered down in thought. _He's probably right._ Closing her eyes, _s_ he took a deep breath through the nose to steady herself. _Trust the Force, Ahsoka,_ she told herself as she slowly exhaled through the mouth. Rex, having been around Jedi long enough to know what was going on, stayed quiet and put his helmet on, right hand resting on the grip of his holstered blaster.

 **(Pause Track 2)**

* * *

 **(Track 3 Start)**

The moment his orange optics lit up, he shot his servos forward, swiftly pushing the stubborn wall out and away from him. Or, he soon realized, _up_. He had been lying on his back this whole time, the slab of Vex construction had fallen to the right side. He curled his joints in an effort to stand when he felt pain again. He recoiled and blinked in confusion. _The diagnostic had finished. What more could-._ He looked himself over, studying the area the most offending joint resided; his left leg. He scowled. _Rust_ , he thought. Inspection concluded that he was _covered_ in a thick layer a dirty, abominable, shameful _rust_. It had bubbled and peeled away in areas of the external plating of his arms and legs, his chest plate looked like it was about to fall off, and the polymer-coating of the pistons, ball-joints, and other major-moving parts that moved were squeaking and grinding against each other, most notably in the chest and abdomen area, along with almost every other joint he had. Overall, he was quite an eyesore. The only thing that was relatively unscathed was anything protected on pure, black polymer, and his titanium-alloy spine; one of the only parts of him that was wholly made of metal.

 _How in Taken's realm was this allowed to happen?_ he questioned as he continued to stand upright, gritting his denta - his black, smooth, half-circular, dense-rubber equivalent of teeth that was placed at the front of his jaw - to work through the arthritical pain of merely _moving_. He stepped out of his confinement and looked back on it. _A grave. A concrete casket._

 _...How appropriate._

A portion of white liquid remained pooled inside and he spotted the still-retreating forms of white, translucent wires. They were spliced at the ends, a collection of smaller wires spreading out of the exposed conduit, sparkling with each other, exchanging what he could think of as electricity.

But a question remained. What caused him to rust to this level of severity? He looked himself over once more. Not only that, when did he lose his _clothes_? He wasn't perturbed, per say. Him being who he is, he never _required_ attire, nor did his frame posses anything that necessarily, at least in the eyes of organics, required covering.

Looking around his poorly-lit abode, he found only a selection of Vex metal and concrete for walls and roof and floor, as well as some hanging moss littered throughout all. The hue from his optics was the only source of light around him. The room was small. His processor habitually created a rough measure of the room, and estimated a cube whose lengths measured twelve cubits each. Cubits were primarily used to simplify the already rough measuring process, since getting exact numerics purly from eyesight readings is nigh-impossible. His casket lay in center, whose bottom portion lay flush with the floor level.

 _I was soaked in...brain._ He let the speaker in his throat continuously vibrate in an annoyed sigh. _Do not tell me that radiolaria has...oxididational properties._ Due to plasteel being a composite of both high-strength steel coupled with the more absorbing and light-weight properties of plastic, _i_ t would take roughly two lifetimes for his external skeletal plates to rust...an average, unaltered, _human's_ lifetime. Most of his joints, mainly the knees, had become clogged due to the confined spaces and complex, and relatively delicate, components residing in each, which also created a very noticeable amount of discomfort. _I must have been in stasis for at a minimum of a century, if not two. Unless..._ Unless the mind fluid can oxidize whatever it touches much quicker than that of the likes of ordinary water. Plus, he's dealing with the Vex. Time travelers. For all he knew they sped up time relative to him and him alone. There were too many variables to consider.

He had to run an executable.

{

TimeCheck;

...

#Error! Time between last shutdown and startup is corrupted. Beginning from last boot.

#3 minutes, 9 seconds

}

 _Lar'cel!_ There was no way he could know for sure how much _objective_ time had passed. Not without striking up conversation once again.

Returning to the foot of the casket, he reached out his left servo and, ignoring the creaking and squeaking each individual movement produced, from the bending of his abdomen to the stretching out of each digit, and placed it inside the remaining radiolaria that pooled within. Instantly he could feel the substance that still clung to him beforehand, clogged in his joints, pooled in his optical sockets, and any other crevice and space in which it could dwell, in one swift motion _snap_ together, becoming one strand, as would two magnets of opposite polarity.

 _How long has it been?_ he asked via mental projection. A few moments passed in complete silence. He didn't budge. Servo stubbornly remained in the liquid brain. Finally, the fluid began to vibrate in intervals. It sequenced it's tendon-strumming vibrations to form in his audio microphones the sound of speech.

" _ **...Unclear..."**_ it whispered. The metal brow piece assigned to his left optic, and, as per his design, took up the outer upper perimeter of the optical cavity and angled down to the nose area between each eye, rose up in surprise. The right brow of the same shape did the opposite, moving down to form half a scowl. Both movements made a quiet screeching sound as rusted metal moved against each other. _The Vex, those who are not bound by time, the masters of the Simulation, are "_ unsure _"?_ he asked incredulously.

" _ **...Unknown variables..."**_ It almost sounded ashamed, if Vex could even operate on that emotional spectrum. _ **"...Location. Time. Unknown. Cannot be known."**_ He could hear unintelligible murmurs that mixed in the background, as if they were speaking amongst themselves.

The murmurs ceased. _ **"...Cannot communicate with rest of our Collective... Cannot be objectivized for chronological analysis. No...starting point... Subjectivity prevails..."**_

Blocked. It would make sense for the most part. The Vex that resided within this tower had needed to break away from the the rest of their Collective members in order to escape. Simulations wouldn't have helped. They were all in a hurry and couldn't afford to refine their calculations, lest the Blackened Hand reach and infect the last known remnants of Vex life like it did with his planet, his people, his _Vahds and Vahs',_ his-

He shook his helm and blinked. _Why did you not inform me I would rust?_ he demanded.

A pause. _ **"...Query...?"**_

He growled audibly. _Do not take me for a fool!_

This vat of milk would dare play dumb with him?

" _ **...Radiolaria contains relative oxygen equivalent of zero-point-zero-zero-zero-zero-one of water... Chemical reaction...impossible to create under known chronological parameters..."**_

 _You lie!_ he scolded. _You have just now said yourself that such parameters are incalculable._ _How else could I have deteriorated so rapidly?_

A moment of silence. And another. One more. " _ **...Hastefulness of calculations...creates possibility of outspreading spacial-time application...unequally...**_ "

Unequal. A brow rose in curiosity. _You imply that the time stream traveled in differing intervals depending on...location of the variable within the structure? Or solely the object? Perhaps both?_

" _ **...Probability of either hypotheses...high...**_ "

He growled. _How generous of Father Time to choose a bastard of BrayTech to work his deteriorating magic upon._ He frustratingly pulled his servo out of the fluid, creating a small splash. He felt the residual substance on and inside him relax from the lack of contact.

"Ghost" he called. The word echoed inside the chamber as he called to his companion. After receiving no reply, his still-awaking processor caught up with him, and he frantically spun around the room, looking any and everywhere he knew to, and he realized that Ghost was nowhere to be found.

 _This will_ not _do._

He was never comfortable leaving him unattended around such creatures. The room was sealed, so no one could enter...easily, that is. However nothing would stop the Vex from spawning a minion of their own inside and having their way with his dear Vohd. He would be defenseless. A single Goblin would be more than enough.

Such an act would break the standing arrangement, of course. Vex will not break assigned agreement. However, such machines are, by their very nature, not concerned about _bending_ such rules.

Given the unknown duration of his slumber, if they were to kill him they would have done so by now. Or captured him. _He would provide excellent leverage,_ he begrudgingly realized. And he bet they knew it, too. He re-initiated contact.

 _My Ghost,_ he demanded. No question was needed. He knew that _they_ knew exactly what he was talking about.

" _ **...Unknown..."**_

 _This is becoming a common theme with you all,_ he angrily hissed _._

" _ **...Departed..."**_

Departed?

The servo that rested in the liquid molded into a fist. _If you laid_ one _claw on him-_

" _ **-Violence uninitiated. Threats uninitiated. Departed in simplest use of adverb."**_ It spoke rapidly this time. Whether or not it was out of fear, he didn't care. He was influencing them. He knew he had some amount of power over them now, which diffuses the idea that Ghost was captured. Why, though, does he has this amount of influence to begin with? He had a small suspicion, but he moved it to his mental background.

 _How could he have left this room without aid?_ It was sealed. There should have been no way in or out.

" _ **...A query for It alone..."**_

It...

 _Then there is no longer a reason to linger_. He needed to move, and quickly at that. The rest of his equipment was also missing.

 _My effects,_ he firmly stated. Soft talk never gets anything done with their kind. Vex respond to power, especially post-End. He shall display it.

 _ **"...Proceed..."**_ echoed in his processor. Stone grinding against stone was heard to the right of him. Once again swiping his hand out of the casket, he spun on his heel, which he forgot to account for his lack of coordination due to his decayed state, causing him to briefly, and awkwardly, stumble. An endless series of creaks and moans and grinds accompanied his every move. He witnessed a slab of Vex concrete lower itself into the floor. His arms were at his side, left servo instinctively ready to reach for a sidearm that was current not there. The fiery-orange rims of his optics pierced into the darkened void beyond, his metal face producing his version of an attentive scowl. At a slight angle, he cautiously approached, each step thankfully muffled by the rubber that had not yet fallen off of the bottom of his peds. Stealth, while not a common trait among those of his study, was his preference; and in the times he lived in, a necessity.

No sooner did he enter the dark room when said darkness lifted, giving way to transparent tube that opened up in the floor. He stepped to it's edge, peering down. _A gravity lift._ Suddenly, the blacks of his optics contracted, shrinking as the fiery-orange rims grew in their place. He doubled over, brows squinting and servos grasping his forehelm as he was painfully forced into remembrance.

(

 _Swiftly-paced footsteps. Running. The slickness of the damp greenery he tread upon. It was dusk, and therefore difficult to see, even for him. Goblins. Hobgoblins. Hydras. They surrounded him, but they were not his focus, nor he theirs. He ran past them, and they were shooting from the direction he came...at something else. Something...sinister..._

 _The Blackened Hand..._

 _He could hear in the distance the distinct, disgusting sound of Vex being...well,_ violated _was the simplest phrasing. A high-pitched voice cried out, "Hurry! we're almost there!"_

)

That was his Ghost. He and him were being chased. The Vex seemed non-hostile towards them, as well; something he still has difficulty grasping. The flood of recollection was difficult to control, but he did. He _needed_ to.

 _The next step,_ he reminded himself _. There is only the next step._ Straightening up, he stepped into the lift and traveled down in a controlled descent.

There was a gap between the upper and lower portions of the spire, giving him a view of the outside. Stars littered the night sky of this unknown world. He saw a barren, rocky mountain range to the left. At it's base was an endless collection of rocks and...sand...

 _Mars? No, Martian sand is redder._ More rolling hills of sand filled the right portion all the way to the horizon. A vast and flat basin was where he and the tower resided. Looking behind him he saw that the basin continued to the horizon as well as the mountain range. _We are certainly not on Venus any longer_.

He reached the bottom of the gravitational elevator and stepped out into a tall, rectangular hallway.

Stretching to the rather high ceiling, the white glow of Vex conduit threads extended horizontally from one end of the room to the other via circuit-like maze patterns that indented and littered the roof and traveled the length of the room; like many different, illogically and inefficiently-placed, unside down water channels. There was much less greenery to behold here than the previous room. Ahead of him, on the floor, was a large, copper-colored circle, with same-color wires jutting out from many points all along the circumference and disappearing behind the Vex concrete. Beyond that, was a giant, circular door...

(

 _Rain. It was pouring rain, and it was reverberating off of every metal structure, every leaf, every portion of his frame. Flashes of lightning briefly illuminated the stairway, reflecting off the of gate. Many steps were frantically climbed, the steam from his heatsink erupting out of his mouth with each artificial breath._

 _The footsteps ceased. A brief silence, then, two, consecutive, slowly-paced thuds, Like an ominous knock on a door. The source was his own fist, pounding overhead on the giant gate that was all too similar to what resided in front of the Vault of Glass. It wasn't. He was well aware. This place was in another sector of the planet, and specially designed for one, singular purpose..._

 _The ground beneath him shook. The walls around him vibrated. The plant-life in his vicinity swung to and fro as he beheld, appearing almost in shocked awe, the opening of the path to his next step..._

)

he snapped himself out of his daze. _Control yourself, mind mine._

Within that circle on the floor, lie his prize. He initially left them in his casket, so someone, or thing, must have put them here. _Likely a Drone. But why here?_ No sooner did his processor finish that question did he have an answer. That circle looks just like an entity pad that detects lifeforms within its diameter. Akin to _the plates in the Vault - Ah, I understand. They wish me to activate it_. He would would have to oblige. He couldn't reach for his gear without entering the circle's influence.

 _At least they were civilized enough to fold my attire. It does not appear to be layered in dust, either._ Whether or not that was a result of the Vex-created environment or the stretch of time, he didn't know.

The pad would most likely activate the door. He wasn't concerned about that; it was anything else that would trigger as a byproduct. Squads of Goblins, Hobgoblins, Minotaurs - sometimes Hydras if one was unlucky - have been known to spawn from such an action. Even passing the distance between he and it could trigger a materialization.

Though he would have to admit that, at this point, he was unsure if they would even attack. However, as per his nature, taking chances was not his forte. To add to that, with how close the enemy had gotten to them he wasn't sure if any had latched on before departing; in which case this level of caution is _absolutely_ appropriate. He could see his rifle, along with his collection of 3 magazines. He would have to rush for it and chamber one of the mags swiftly. His sidearm was also in view, still in it's molded-polymer holster. That and his cloths would come after. His rusted state wouldn't help his speed at all. He sighed again. He loathed not being at full mobility.

His knee joints creaked as he ran, his jaw tensed in pain. His artificial diaphragm that, akin to lungs, intaked fresh air through the mouth to aid in cooling his central heatsink, spewed out increasingly hot and condensated air through the openings on the sides of his jaw, along with any other gaseous waste produced from his regular, mechanically-anatomical functions. Hasty steps echoed loudly, essentially mocking him as he advanced. He wasn't going very fast at all. He didn't raise his right ped high enough and it tripped on the edge of the circle. Thankfully, he was in reach of his rifle when he landed on his left side, relevant arm easing the impact a little. Swiping his withered Scathelocke (a Second-Golden Age-era select-fire rifle that was modeled off of the ancient, but in those days quite popular, AK weapon system) off the floor, he got on one knee, swiveled around, facing away from the vault-like door, and slammed a magazine holding thirty rounds of mid-power 7.62x39 ammunition (created by his Ghost from glimmer scraps) into the magwell. It was a simple and crude design. The massive muzzle brake reduces the felt recoil to almost nothing, at the cost of making the firearm _extremely_ loud. Thankfully, his microphones could handle the volume. Holding the firearm with his left hand on the handguard and cheap wooden skeletal stock pressed against his shoulder, he reached with his right hand and yanked back the charging handle that sat on the side of the bolt. He flicked the selector from safe, past semi-auto, to full auto. The metallic clanging of the first round being chambered gave way to an ominous, suspenseful silence.

He stilled himself, unmoving in the slightest, lest a joint creak in protest. His optics were the only thing about him that accepted movement as they continued to scan in front of him. Firearm at the ready, the stock pressed firmly and square against his shoulder to counteract what amount of recoil he could, muzzle lowered ever so slightly and ready for him to shift and aim at the first sign of movement. The built-in iron sights were outlined with tritium; a radioactive, luminescent substance that better contrasts the posts with the shooter's targets. The fact that the tritium still had a strong glow further confused him. Such a material would have deteriorated long before his frame became as rusted as it was.

The usual white holographic radiolaria sprang from the circular rims around him, contrasting greatly with the romantically-lit hall, yet strangely not spreading it's light with the rest of its' surroundings.

…

...He waited...

…

 **(Pause Track 3)**

* * *

 **(Resume Track 2)**

Ahsoka heard the knocks again, along with the sound of... _raindrops?_ It sounded like they were bouncing off of the surrounding metallic and concrete surfaces around her, but Ahsoka didn't feel the rain fall on _her_ could see in her mind's eye a fist pounding on the circular door with two, tired and slow-paced thuds. She sensed a feeling of muted and muffled desperation and regret with those movements. _A vision_ , she realized. _But of what?_

A moment passed before she opened her eyes and stared down the door in front of her. "Well, we better knock, I suppose" she said aloud before stepping forward and, raising her right fist above her head to mimic what she had just seen, pounded only once, to reflect the same pattern as she heard before. A second passed. Than another before pounding once more. She didn't really know why she did it that particular way; it just felt like the right way to go about it.

Seconds passed before she heard metal clicking and clanging together as would a piece of clockwork. The frequency increased, and so did the volume. Ahsoka was tempted to try and cover her lekku to make the volume more bearable. The ground shook as the outer layers of the door rotated aside, revealing a mesh of grey wiring that also retracted afterwards. Dust and sand filled the air around them, making Ahsoka squint and wrinkle her nose, while Rex simply put on his helmet before swiping his relevant blaster pistol out of its holster, paralleling the muzzle with the ground. All the while oblivious to the small, floating orb that kept it's single blue eye on them from a discrete crevasse further up the Spire.

 **(Pause Track 2)**

* * *

 **(Resume Track 3)**

{

TimeCheck;

#17 minutes, 33 seconds

}

 _These pads have never taken this long to activate anything_.He had been crouched there for a while, now. During that time he was tempted to let his mind wander, to recollect, but, as usual, he worked to keep it all buried away, lest...his levels spike again. That was the only reason. _The only reason,_ he repeated. He kept it _all_ at bay.

One abnormal sound later and his thoughts were flung in the background, his rifle was jerked parallel with the ground, right digit resting on the low-quality, creeping and grinding trigger, and optic aligned with the irons. Electrical smoke engulfed the space ahead, crackling and spasming and flashing. Swiftly pivoting his helm from side to side, using his peripherals to look further behind him, he found the same smoke appearing everywhere but his back, where the giant door lay. He got up from his crouch, knee joints still bent to provide minimal sway, and carefully took two steps back, barely exiting the circumference, standing between it and the gate which rested several cubits (rough measure of the elbow to tip of the middle finger) away.

The smoke directly ahead, in the back closest to the grav-lift which he saw had powered down, the blue hues giving way to the otherwise dim lighting, was first to give way to a single Minotaur, the purple aura of its Void shields wrapping around its robotic form. Directly after them, in front and in sequence, each of his flanks produced two sets of Goblins. They landed with a clank and sprang up to their normal stature before taking marching-coordinated steps to the side walls of the hallway. Four Goblins and a Minotaur for the left, for Goblins for the-

The muzzle of his rifle darted back and forth between the... _nine_ targets.

 _Nine...why nine?_ Taking into account of how symmetrical the Vex are, there should have been a second Minotaur to fill in the apparent void in troop placement. _Why not an even ten?_

His optics contracted, pupils shrinking, glowing, fiery-orange rims attempting to overtake.

…

Reality was placed in the background as he recalled.

" _Hello!? Anyone home!?" Ghost shouted. Soon, the clanking sounds of metal parts twisting and turning accompanied the gate's opening. Beyond he saw a lone Minotaur inside an activation pad, the white, holographic datalattice that vertically protruded out of the circumference indicating it's activation. It went into a full-on sprint, charging outside of the influence, causing the lattice to change color to a warning red before receding. He and Ghost swiftly side-stepped out of the Vex's path, and he continued to run and run, out into the dreary rainfall, each hard and quick-falling of the foot creating a splashing print in the muddy soil, and began firing with reckless repetition at the approaching-_

Optics readjusted, and he subtly jerked his helm to the right side, same optical lids closing briefly in relief before again opening. _Mindless,_ he said. _Anything to protect their self-collection. They truly are machines_. He ignored the inherent self-irony.

He never fired. And neither did they.

Their gun-arms stayed lowered, and they all merely looked at him, some with their heads tilted in curiosity. They were quietly chirping and clicking amongst themselves, as if whispering to each other. It was perturbed him how their large, beady red eyes appeared to be reading as much as they could off of him, and he scowled in protest; that was _his_ shtick, not theirs. He knew they could easily figure out how vulnerable he was. They could, collectively, take him down if they wanted to, especially with the Minotaur ahead of him. He knew that they knew with absolute assurance he was without one, critical Tool. A Tool that the Vex themselves have time and again attempted to simulate, with little to no avail. But they never made any threatening movements. Never even took a step in intimidation.

Two concecutive thuds were heard behind him. He swiviled around, still at the ready. A moment passed before the room started to rumble, and instantly his round optics, inversely to how they acted before, dilated as a feline would when about to attack. Knees still bent and rifle trained ahead, he let out a hard exhale of hot smoke that escaped his mouth.

The rumble started soft before escalating. He heard stomping and cracking sound behind him, and he looked over his right shoulder. The Vex had switched their gaze onto the floor below them them, and he then saw something he'd never seen Vex do: they stomped their feet onto the concrete floor, kicking up dust and rubble, their three claw-like toes on each foot stabbing into it, anchoring them. They crouched down and, facing the door, leaned forward slightly, their hands also on the floor to balance them. _What are you doing?_

Looking back, he saw the center of the circular door illuminate a brilliant white, again with none illuminating its surroundings. The rumbling increased and the door began to shift, it's parts rotating and folding in on itself, starting from the bottom and working up-

...He stood as still a statue...

{

#Warning! New stimuli detected.

Status(MockNeuralArray);

#Spitting out true/false booleans. "t" = stimuli detected via relevant neuron archetype.

{

Physical (t)

Mental ()

...

#Error! Cannot determine parameter (Mental)

Emotional (f)

Audial (f)

Optical (f)

...

[O] (...)

#Warning! Inverse of auxiliary sense ([O])

}

}

His left brow cocked up in visible confusion. _Inverse?_ The other brow followed suit in shock. His optics contracted in brief worry before resuming their dilated, conflict-ready state, and he readjusted his grip on his Scathelocke.

 _Has it found me?_

He had been through too long and too much of hell to die now. He was ready to pump lead into any and all that stormed in. All the while his nerves and processor were overclocked attempting to understand the input they were receiving.

It was nothing of physical substance, he knew that much. The dead Spark in his chest, the sort that stores the power his kind had used for the past nine-hundred years to delay inevitable, absolute annihilation, felt a cold embrace as it was submerged in this foreign...thing. A thick blanket of...something...covered him. No intentions. No motives. No consciousness. It simply was. And then his Spark did something that further confused him; it contradicted itself. Amongst the uncaring cold of it all, it was throbbing in anticipation. Excitement. In that same way one's heart would when reuniting with a beloved friend or family member.

 _What reunion?_ he asked no one in particular with frustration. _We have never met,_ he told himself before pausing, his helm lowered down and optics fluttering to and fro across the ground in frantic thought, brows twitching as he went.

 _Have I not?_

He lifted his helm again. It was familiar, and yet, different.

{  
#Warning! Risk of neural overload! Suggest temporary sensory bottleneck.

#Error!

#Error!

#Error!

#Error!

#Error!

...

HideConsole;

}

He swiftly exhaled again, a lesser amount of smoke than last time escaped to due to the temporarily-greater frequency of the expulsion. The door continued to open, letting an apparent breeze from the outside kick in and litter the nearby flooring with sand. His firearm darted towards the ground across the gate's boundary when he saw the form of a pair of legs, both slim and small, appear out of the gate's retreating mass. Knowing not if they were hostile and/or armed, he steadily and briskly backpedaled, into and subsequently out of circlular pad, giving no time for the datalattice to protrude once more. Unfortunately, it was only when the wind picked up that he realized this wasn't a mere displacing of air, and he also realized why the Vex had anchored themselves _securely_.

The next thing he knew he was being pushed. Well, _hurled_ was no like it. He flew back before impacting the floor several cubits away, his firearm fled from his servos in the process. The cringe-worthy crash of his landing was drowned out by the sheer loudness of the massive opening gate.

The non-corporeal blanket became very heavy. His once, apparently joyous Spark, was being choked by the weight. Not that he was overly concerned by that alone; choked or not, it didn't matter; it was already dead. No, he was more concerned of what would happen as a byproduct. He couldn't stop it. He dreaded having to relive this yet again. He helplessly outstretched his right arm towards the ceiling. "N-...N-no" he whispered. "I refu-"

His mind was overloaded from the strain the foreign blanket forced on his mind. No part of him had an idea of how to handle it, so his frame did what it could only do: crash.

{

SoftReboot;

}

 **(Pause Track 3)**

* * *

 **(Resume Track 2)**

The gate gave way to a startling sight. The room was dimly lit, the ceiling filled with vein-like white lines that pulsated periodically. But what put the two on high-alert were the rows of very strange-looking machines that lined up each side of the dark hallway. Ahsoka and Rex backpedaled and the former instinctually reached for her Lightsabers. Their activation was stuttered initially, which made her huff in annoyed remembrance of her own testing back at the gunship. _Come on_ , she ordered, shaking the hilts in the hopes of jarring the internals back into order. With time and with no explanation, the beam seemed to even out, further confusing the young Togruta.

"What in kark is..." the captain swore before trailing off. The beating white light from above reflected off of the bipedal machine's metal plates. Rex was moving his blaster from target to target, looking for any sign of movement. He could see what looked to be blasters attached to their arms, but regardless, the sign never appeared. They were clearly powered on due to their large, single red eye illuminating the ground they stared into, but they didn't even bother to look at the two of them. They seemed to be... _bowing._

"I guess they were expecting us" Ahsoka mused.

"Well, they _did_ shoot us down" Rex added with a hint of dryness that went unnoticed by her.

Carefully, Ahsoka took a hesitant step forward. Still no response. She took another, the sound of her boot landing on the concrete beginning to echo in the hallway. Nothing. "What is going on?" she whispered. "What _are_ these?"

"I've never seen droids like this in my whole career" Rex replied quietly through his helmet, following closely behind. Eventually they were lightly traversing the space between the two lines of foreign droids, and they still did absolutely nothing. Eventually they stepped over an outlined circle on the floor, in which they found and briefly rummaged through an assortment of...

"Clothes? This is just getting more and more confusing" she said with exasperation, but quietly did so, so as to not startle their new "friends."

Further down she noticed a single, larger droid in the back of the leftside line, crouched all the same. It looked to be quite durable. Futher out, Ahsoka spotted a humanoid figure splayed on the floor. It also looked droid-like, but _much_ more humanoid-proportioned than the others.

Getting close enough to it, she crouched down to inspect. It was very rusted out as far as she could see, and it looked like it had been sitting here for a long time. but she could still tell that, whoever, or whatever made it, was quite the craftsman. The detailing in the joints, limbs, torso, face...well, pretty much everywhere was unparalleled in design to any droid she's ever seen in her life. And being around Anakin for as long as she has, she's dealt with _quite_ a few droids.

 **(Track 2 0:00)**

Human geometry tends to be quite round and curvy, but by contrast, the best word she could think of to describe his whole mechanical body was...aerodynamic. Smooth, and in some places, minimal. Flat metal plates created slight and rounded angles along the skeleton, except in select regions where an ever-so-slight curvature was warranted. Some areas like the neck and abdomen contained a lot of exposed moving parts, all of which looked quite similar in design to what was found in the machine's mouth and jaw.

The areas of each major joint or series of joints was exposed, such as the entire neck, the elbows, wrists, each joint for each of the five fingers on each hand, abdomen, hips, knees, ankles, and toes. Each exposed region showed the same assortment of black-colored pistons and other moving parts of the same aesthetic as the jaw and mouth. The feet did not posses normal toes, but instead the foot took the form of an aerodynamic shoe, if one can even call it such, that split in half near the end and allowed the two flat shapes to move separately up and down. But other than those places, the mechanical body was filled with uniquely-designed plates that looked to be able to move freely and shift around each other quite naturally, though in a lot of areas left slivers of exposed black machinery underneath to do so, most notably in the pectorals, shoulder blades, center-abdomen, arm and forearm, and legs and forelegs. The tiny metal plates that covered the palms and backs of the hands were astoundingly intricate, allowing the same range of motion as Ahsoka's own. There were no finger nails, only stubs for fingertips that seemed to be covered in a layer of a rubber-like substance, most likely to aid in gripping. The feet also had the same rubbery-layer underneath.

It's body did not look bulky or muscular in the slightest. From the minimal amount of lifting she performed, she found it was not very heavy or had a lot of mass, nor did it look like it did. It would probably not take a lot more damage than the average person could. Honestly, to Ahsoka it looked rather skeletal in a lot of ways, especially in the abdomen, and slightly more "filled in"-esque in others. Regardless, that did not remove the aura of strength it radiated. It appeared to be designed after a human male.

The face, however, caught her attention the most. The robotic eyes that hid behind that naturally scowling mask of an expression. The lower eye lids that looked to be able to extend and retract depending on mood, the...Ahsoka assumed they were eyebrows that reached down to the nose area of its face, looked like they had adequate expressive movement. The black jaw-area looked to be made of a different material due to it's general lack of rust. The many assortment of moving parts housed in aerodynamic shapes and joints that made up the jaw, allowing a good range of motion, and leading up to the beak of the mouth where a single, rusted, angled plate resided on the mouth's underside, designating a chin. What looked like smooth blackened rubber outlined the front "teeth" area of the mouth.

The head itself, minus the rust, was quite smooth until, after gently lifting its head up, she reached the back, where the rusted plating ended in a slight point at the top. Ahsoka saw what she assumed to be an interface port in the back of its head, covered by a locked flap. The sides of its head had a single, small, chrome-like circle that was flush with the head, where human ears normally reside.

"Wow" she breathed in astonishment.

Looking above her shoulder, Rex also seemed a bit impressed with it. "Who would have the facilities here to make something this complex?" the Captain wondered aloud. "Shab, who _anywhere_ , much less _this_ backwater."

"Let's hope we find out" the Commander replied before standing and carefully stepping over the machine's body. Justs ahead of them, In the very back of the hallway was a transparent, a cylindrical hue of blue light appeared, that looked to move upward, creating a transparent cylinder.

Further down Rex spotted an object of interest, also lying on the ground. He briefly crouched and picked it up by the pistol grip before standing again, wrapping his left hand around the handguard. Swiveling it around in his grip he spotted a lever protruding the right side of the receiver end. Pulling it back he saw a slim, golden-colored object fly out the side of the device, hearing the echoing chime of the brass land and settle on the floor. He came to a conclusion before letting go, leaving the spring to slam the bolt back into battery. The sudden sharp sound of it being sent home startled Ahsoka, who looked behind her, her face wearing annoyance. Rex merely glanced back at the droids, making sure they weren't startled out of...whatever they were doing, before gazing at his newfound toy.

"A slug-thrower? Don't see many of these around. Quite expensive, though this piece seems'a pretty crude make and model." Out of the corner of his eye he also spotted on the floow what looked to be a small, pistol-shaped 'thrower in a holster.

 **(End Track 2)**

* * *

 **(Silence)**

General Skywalker has always had trouble resting. This was different. He tossed and turned, face showing alarm. "No," he whispered. Again, "No-". Sweat had built up on his forehead. His hands involuntarily clenched. He shook.

"NO!" His eyes bugged open and he shot straight up. He could hear and feel his heart thumping rapidly, and his breathing was paralleling.

He recalled it vividly. Sounds of sabers clashing. Screams. Clones dying. The Chancellor's office. _The Chancellor's,_ he mentally echoed. His hidden wife was present, he saw, but she - and he recalled this with temporary relief - was not the target of any wrath. And then there was _It_...

 _It_ was a dark silhouette. Clad in robes that stretched down to the ankles. It was shaped like a human, save for it's entire left arm. It was mangled. Clawed. And it's eyes... For a split moment in the beginning they were a fiery-orange, but changed into a mixed, ever-moving, putrid _purple_. They glowed like headlights. And the Force...

It was dark... _nasty._ The Force was _appalled._ He had never felt anything radiate such coldness until now, when they arrived at Jakku in the first place. It had gotten more and more potent as time went on. At first he just wanted to think he needed rest...

While remaining respectful, Anakin was never one to treat the Force with as much awe and reverie as his peers and elders tend to. However, _this_...this, power... It was _blasphemous_. That was the only way he could think of to describe it.

 _It_ moved around so rapidly that Jedi were unable to tap into the Force in time to predict it's actions. One by one they fell to it's devouring purple-hued embrace. And then there was Ahsoka...

She was in pain. Physically? Emotionally? Both? He didn't know. He could only assume it was sourced from... _It_...

Anakin felt this same power just minutes ago. Right here. At this spire. His eyes widened, and he forced himself to his feet. It was difficult. His energy was returning, but slowly. He made to climb the stairway. He _really_ wished he and they still had working com-links right about now.

He stopped when he heard an intelligible yell coming from up ahead. He tried to quicken his pace.

If _It_ was inside, his padawan could be in trouble. And that, Reader Mine, would simply _not do_.

* * *

Nightmares weren't just had by the General this night.

 _The lighting was crude. Minimal. Obviously designed to drain the accused of any and all hope. A thundering voice boomed from the bench. "You stand here facing charges of desertion, second-degree murder, conspiring with known enemies, and treason. How do you plead?" Everyone knew the court was biased. The judge, the jury, even the typist in charge of logging the whole affair would alter words when it suited them. The end result was known from the start. Why waste time with this..._ circus _? Even the constituents who put them in office don't give a damn._

 _It wasn't like he had a defense anyway, much less a single ally who would dare stand in the way of this age-defining moment that, at the time, merely appeared as an ordinary day._

…

…

…

One memory blurred into another.

…

" _Why!?" screamed a sobbing woman. "Why would you do this?! What kind of monster-!"_

…

 _He squinted in reaction as his surroundings again shifted._

…

…

…

 _Rain. Like a previous memory he blocked out earlier, only...he wasn't running from anything. He was sheltered inside an abandoned garage that had been overtaken by nature. The nature of Venus. The sun of Sol was apparently out, though blocked by thick, sulfur-filled clouds, leaving a depressing grey-yellow tint setting in its wake._

" _Remember what he taught you" an English, female voice told him. Her minimally-static and relaxed tone would have been preferable if he did not know who she_ truly _was behind her hood-hidden faceplate and glowing sky-blue optics. The words she said afterwards seemed to echo in his mind, over and over and over, increasing in volume with every cycle. The words were eventually overlapping themselves. He grasped his helm with both servos, face tensed in pain, optics contracted and squinted._

" _There is only the next step. There is only the next step. There is only the next step. There is only the next step. There is only-"_

…

 _A monstrous, gurgling roar. "_ _ **WHERE IS THE LAST?!**_ _" The voice may have been talking_ of _him, however he had a premonition that the voice was speaking_ to _someone else._

…

…

{

#Soft reboot complete. Passing user controls from to host Waking up...

}

 _-The next step._

 **(Resume Track 3)**

His optics onlined, and his helm jerked upright, but a shot of pain went through his neck and his subroutines slammed him back down. He groaned quietly and baritonely.

{

#Warning! Structural damage in essential component/s (Spine[moderate], ShoulderRight[minimal]). Initializing mobility inhibitor protocols...

}

He could still hear the screams, the cheers of the unorderly as the gavel struck. The hauntings of another life...

...

The Exo shut his optics, metaphorically taking back his mental reigns, making himself focus on the present...

 _..._

 _..._

 _...Confounded rust_ he spat.

He could have otherwise taken much more punishment than that. He could try to fight it. Try to bypass the damage-management routine. But not only would that take time he was unwilling to give, it could lead to further damage, both physically and otherwise. He needed to Get. Up.

 _The next step_.

Careful as to not bend his back much, he rotated onto his left side so his front was leaning over enough for his right servo to reach over, onto the floor, and with the help of his left, pushed him upright, sliding his left knee in place for support while doing so. Lifting with his right leg, he arose enough for his left leg to take the same stance, and he was standing once more.

He turned to his right. Then his left. The Vex were gone, the jabs in the flooring all that remained. The gate to the _Hourglass_ was wide open, showing a stellar collection of stars above the flattened sandy terrain below the flight of stairs. He certainly wasn't anywhere near any large populace, otherwise the lighting thereof would have quite largely diminished such a star count. Speaking of which, the moment he finished that thought the overhead lights brightened considerably, some of it leaking outside past the entrance.

More sand had collected there since he went unconscious, though whether or not that was due to the duration he was out cold, or simply from the wind itself that carried him off-

 _No. That was no wind_.His now-bruised Spark took the brunt of the impact, surprisingly. Nothing of material makeup did this. No, it was abstract. Arcane. It wasn't Light, thank Heavens. He was uncertain, however, if this was Darkness. It was familiar in that he was engulfed and subdued as if a blanket made of chains were thrown over him. He hadn't experienced anything like this since...

Since the end.

He took a step forward, and that was when he realized the blanket was _still here_. He could physically move through it as well as without, however the abstract sensation was present. Akin of wading through water. The sense was not dominating. He assumed it could be ignored after desensitizing, however that did not relieve him of concern. It was unsure if this was a blanket of Darkness like what he had waded through many times in a century past, but he was quite sure it was not any form of Light. Aside from the unexplainable performance his Spark gave before his crash, He knew Light was nothing of this sort.

 _More questions than answers_ , he thought.

What else was new?

He turned around, from his left this time. The lift was still offline. The ceiling lights continued to shine brighter, soaking the hall, and himself, in it's white hue. Looking around he noticed his tools had disappeared, while his clothing remained in the center of the circle, though they weren't neatly folded or placed any longer, as if they've been rummaged through. He made a slow pace toward them. He knelt down and grasped the waist area of a pair of blue jeans with his left servo. He looked ahead and to his surprise, he found footprints in the sand that had collected on the gate's edge. T _he sand and dirt collected in their boots. Two sizes of prints. Two persons._ He looked down. _They did not bother to confiscate the attire. Suggests they do not consider it to be important enough._ They could be high-level scavengers, searching only for items worth their weight, and he can probably rule out aliens, since these prints are from human-shaped shoe-wear.

They must have walked in while he was unconscious.

The jeans were a couple sizes too big for his waist, so he compensated with a black fabric belt which uses two metal loops to hold it together, as opposed to a series of holes in the belt itself that hold firm with a pin run through one of them. Socks were useless to him, so there were none present. His black boots reached a third-way up his metallic, plated calf. Normal, black fabric strings, normal string arrangement. Normal knot-tying procedure. The usual. He covered up the upper portion of the boots with the remaining length of his jeans.

He had just reached for the shoulder area of his olive-drab-green, long-sleeve, turtle-necked shirt, when...

"I still say that outfit doesn't work for you" suddenly spoke a voice nearby. A treble clef-ed, familiar voice.

He jerked himself up in the blink of an eye, creaking his damaged back consequentially, and he closed his optics in both pain and realization, and allowed himself a brief, static and smoke-filled groan of annoyance to escape as he reached a servo around to his back. He looked up to see a small floating entity hovering outside the gateway before moving next to his host's helm. "I still say you look better in moody-black" the entity added.

He shook his helm disapprovingly. "Will you ever stop your sneaking, Ghost" _?_ he said with frustration, the voice-box in his throat sequentially emitting a fiery-orange hue (the same color as his optics) with each spoken syllable.

His lives-long companion gave a single laugh before transmatting into his host's mind. _"Of course I do. I'll admit, you had me worried for a bit when I saw you ungraciously sprawled of the floor."_

Sprawled. He let his servos rest at his sides, shirt still in his right servo. _I was not moved around?_

" _Well, obviously something moved you, or you wouldn't be knocked out in the first place."_

But this makes no sense. They took the weapons, but not him _. An Exo frame is quite valuable in certain black markets. They must not be scavengers, then. Perhaps something more...lethal._

" _Eh, I dunno. Sure, one of them looks scary, but they sorta just...stared at you, gawking for a bit before moving on."_

Ignoring the weirdness of it, Caldus quirked a brow. _You have seen them?_

Ghost materialized again to the Exo's right and nodded _._ "Tried to talk with them, too, but I can't for the Light of me figure out what they're saying."

Caldus, being careful not to further injure his back, swiveled to him, optics meeting him but helm rotated slightly away to Caldus' left as he spoke, peering at Ghost with intently-squinted optics. "You were not present at the time I was brought out of stasis. Where did you go, and what did you do?" Caldus took step towards him as he spoke.

Ghost seemed to be caught off guard by those questions. His body language was stammered until he finally glanced down timidly. "You wouldn't believe me."

"Try me" Caldus insisted with a diagonal nod of the helm.

Ghost stared at the floor in front of them hesitantly. "Fallen."

Caldus cocked a brow and looked away to his left towards the desert. "Eliksni" he said to himself and blinked. He jerked his helm back to Ghost, ignoring the slight input of pain he received. "How?"

Ghost cocked his form to the side in a shrugging manner. "Must have followed us inside before you hopped into that casket" Ghost said before quipping, "I _may_ have chased him away."

The brow went up again. "Dreg?"

"Captain" Ghost quickly corrected.

Caldus faced him fully and slid his thumb digits inside the side pockets of his jeans, letting the remaining digits curl up outside. "You lie" he stated simply.

Ghost fumbled. "Wh-what? Why would I-"

Caldus interrupted. "A Ghost defeating a Captain would be akin to a single gnat sucking a living mammoth dry." He turned away and shook his head. "My, it would not even be able to keep up with the creature's bone marrow."

Ghost sighed annoyingly. "I'm flattered" he deadpanned. "And I didn't _kill_ him. Just chased."

A moment passed. Caldus's expression turned more and more into a scowl with each passing second.

His companion caved. "L-look. Fine, look, I was just following him, that's all." Ghost said hastily.

The scowl lightened a little, and Caldus lifted his left servo out of his pocket and, while keeping is arm next to the side of his chest, extended his first two digits towards him, pointing and bobbing the servo up and down. " _That_ is logical." The servo then backtracked to the side pocket. "Now, how did you exit the grave room? It was impenetrable from both outside and in without exerting a kind of force that would have compromised my _own_ structural integrity, not to mention your own."

"Easy" Ghost quipped. "While you were napping, I slipped through the doorway before it closed shut."

Caldus appeared hesitant to buy it. "Very well... And...why would you do such a thing in the first place, ser Vohd?"

Whether Ghost was, once again, appearing to be caught off guard because of his use of a tongue of past affiliation, or something else, Caldus could not place. "Well, the Fallen, of course!" Ghost fumbled. "He was checking out the grave you were sealed in, and once he walked away, I followed to see what the frag he was doing!" Ghost nervously laughed at the finish.

Caldus scowled. _He is hiding something._ The Exo took a step forward. "Ghost, you would do well to remember my lack of tolerance for a _liar_ " he warned. "Even _yourself_."

Ghost backed away, his eye darting to his sides. "I-I'm not-"

"The _truth_ , Little Light!" He shouted angrily, brows crinkled and servos balled. The light that pulsed out of the Exo's mouth with each accompanying syllable was like a dragon spitting fire. The expulsion of smoke through the sides of the mouth was certainly aiding in the comparison.

Ghost swung around and his eye darted to the gravity lift. "Shh!" he panicked, backing towards his host. "They'll hear us!"

Caldus's scowl lessened and, after glancing the lift's way, he swung his helm to his left, looking back at the footprints made in the thin layer of sand by the gateway. _No tracks that lead out._ He swung back around to the lift. He mentally scolded himself. He should have noticed this earlier. Unfortunately, his companion tends to have that annoying effect.

 _They are still here._

Ghost laughed breathily and embarrassingly. "Yeah, I... _may_ have forgotten to mention that."

The machine growled. "I would _agree_ " he said through clenched denta. "And what do you know of them? Are they hostile? Well-armed?"

Ghost glanced his form up and to the side while bobbing downwards, as if shrugging. "Well, they didn't try to kill me, for one. And like I said, I have _no_ clue what their saying, unfortunately. I've tried all kinds of languages. Those of old Earth, Awoken speech, Cabal - or, what little we know of their language -, Fallen, heck, I've even tried the Hive tongues that we learned from the World's Grave way back when. Nothing. Zip. Nada-"

" _Understood_ " Caldus interrupted.

"-One of them just kept looking at me like I was a freaking cyclops or someth-..." Ghost froze in place. "Wait..."

 **(End Track 3, Silence)**

His optics darted towards the stairway when he heard a footstep. He froze.

"Transmat. Now" he quietly commanded. Ghost was quick to obey and dematerialized into his host.

{

AlertStatus(Yellow);

#Allocating unused resources from motor skills to boost visual, cognitive, and audial inputs and processes. Quieting auxiliary cooling fans for noise reduction and minimizing oral condensation output from artificial diaphragm...

}

Another. And another. And another. They were haphazardly sequenced.

 _Odd_.

It came from outside. He carefully turned around, and beyond the gateway, slowly, and, as far as he could tell, awkwardly coming up the steps was a bipedal life form. A...Human.

 _What planet are we on_?

" _I don't know, Cal_ " ghost mentally whispered. " _Mars?_ "

 _No. The surrounding sand has too much of a white hue. Points to a relatively substantial lack of iron; a lacking that Mars does not posses._

No other planet in Sol contains a sandy-desert of a world such as this, either before or after the Traveler's terraforming. The _Hourglass_ must have taken them out of the system entirely.

"Identify yourself" Caldus called out to the man.

He had stopped several steps from the top. The lower half of his body was obstructed by the pathway down. His surprised, and as far as he could tell, dumbfounded expression temped Caldus to roll his optics. _Has he not seen an Exo before?_ he frustratingly asked no one in particular. The man's face crinkled up into a scowl, and the machine, in response, paralleled the expression.

" _Cal? He's not gonna understand you_ " Ghost said.

 _Was worth an attempt,_ he replied.

Ghost continued. "The others that went up top, Cal? They didn't seem hostile. They followed me up to the gate entrance. I don't think they want any trouble."

Caldus was silent for a second. _This one is a member of their party?_

" _Yup"_ Ghost replied. " _I wouldn't be so tense._ "

 _I will perform whatever is necessary,_ Caldus reminded him. Ghost didn't respond. The man took another step.

"Come no closer!" Caldus shouted to the man. Caldus saw him raise a brow before slowly taking yet another step .

"Halt!" Caldus continued, extending his left arm, palm and digits perpendicular with the ground in a "stopping" gesture once the man had traversed the remaining steps. This time he seemed to get the message.

 _It can understand signals from the hand, but not the tongue?_ He asked.

Ghost performed his mental equivalent of a shrug. _"I dunno. Maybe they're universal or something."_

 _Inadequate. Mathematics are universal. Culture determines physical gesturing. I will attempt research later._

" _Also, 'It'?" Ghost said with mock offense. "tsk tsk."_

 _Be quiet,_ he said sternly.

Speaking of research...

…

 _Cataloging..._

{

CreateEntry(153);

"Encountered new life form. Humanoid. Male. Light-colored skin. Brown, mid-length hair. Eye color: blue. Identified vertical scar that travels down right eye. Attire: dark-colored robes. Appears hunched over. Bodily geometry suggests suspect is fit, which would illogically correlate with his hunched state, unless...he suffers injury, or is otherwise weakened."

...

Identified a cylindrical object hanging from suspect's belt. Possible weapon."

EndEntry;

}

The human hadn't taken another step during the few instants Caldus took to gather what he visually could from him.

" _Ahh"_ Ghost sighed contently. " _It's good to be back"_ he said, having also registered Caldus's entry with much amusement.

 _Unfortunate,_ Caldus remarked. _I was beginning to appreciate the extra mind-space._

Ghost bristled. " _Why, you-"_

 _Hush,_ he interrupted. He needed to concentrate. Ghost, however, could sense the briefest and slightest grin forming from the Exo's mouth-tendons.

Eye-to-optic contact had never broken since it began. The machine stared down the organic with matching intensity. The man moved first when he quickly reached for the cylindrical object hanging from a loop on his belt.

 _Apologies in advance, ser Vohd_ , Caldus said. Ghost wanted to keep pressuring his host to not do anything threatening, but, after spending decades inside his head, he had become aware of when his suggestions start to fall on deaf ears, or, in this case, microphones.

The light from whatever moon this planet possessed was glimmering off the cylinder's apparent chrome coating. It had a small assortment of strategically-placed buttons, along with a series of vertical, dark-colored, convex lines that symmetrically outlined the cylinder's bottom-half.

 _Certainly a weapon_.He was sure of that much, at least. With no possible way of running up to and disarming him in time, and with no cover within reasonably-deemed reach, he did what he could only do: stand perfectly still.

Worst case would be that it can kill or otherwise immobilize them from where they stood. Possibly shoots a projectile out of the empty space at the cylinder's top inner area.

 _How unergonomic for a ranged weapon,_ he thought. _To twist the wrist to that degree would needlessly compromise user accuracy. A perpendicular grip would provide an_ abundance _of improvement._

Surely if, whoever the human's society may be, are intelligent enough to create small device that launches _any_ manner of projectile, they would inherently be intelligent enough to realize just how many flaws this-

His processor stopped in it's tracks when he saw the man stretch his arm forward and to the side, and twist the cylinder upwards, perpendicular with the ground and stairs on which they stood.

 **(Track 4 Start)**

 _I have it all wrong,_ he realized. He ignored Ghost's quiet and brief giggle. _It isn't a firearm at all._ He allowed his posture to relax ever-so-slightly.

The man reached over with his other hand, which was, for some reason, covered by a glove that reached back to his elbow, and grasped the cylinder with it as well.

 _Is this...?_ he wondered, judging by the way the man's thumb reached for a button that was placed on the object's upper-half.

Caldus couldn't catch his brows from shooting up in time when he witnessed something...surprising: The hilt projected from it, slowly enough to be seen coming up and out of the hilt, skyward, a bright, blue, luminescent rod. The ignition sound was distinct; something he cannot remember hearing before. It shot up to about...

{

Measure(1D);

#Measuring a 1-dimensional line. Look at desired point "A"...

…

#Done. Look at desired point "B"...

...

#Estimated distance: 2 cubits

}

…

…

…

{

EditEntry(153);

"It is now logical to assume that the suspect...is a swordsman."

EndEntry;

}

He'll have to sort out later just what the _actual hell_ that blade is made out of. _His stance suggests he is proficient in fighting with it._

" _He doesn't look very happy_ " Ghost quipped disappointingly. He had hoped this first contact situation would have gone by easier. But _nooo,_ this young and sweaty macho-ass just had to whip out his big, long, blue lightning di-

Ghost shook his thoughts away before it got out of hand and thanked the Light that Caldus was too busy running hypotheticals though his processor to notice his outburst of vulgarity.

The man is obviously injured, though to what degree is to be determined. It is very much possible that he is still quite deadly enough in his current state that he could overpower Caldus, but the possibility of him being crippled enough for Caldus to rush up to and subdue him is also very likely. Unfortunately, Caldus himself was also not operating at peak effectiveness at the moment.

Another option is to rush back up the lift. The man could possibly outrun him, and even if he did reach the lift in time, he'll have to deal with the other two intruders that, via process of elimination, resided inside the grave room. The man would also likely follow up after him, surrounding Caldus, and then he would have to deal with three potential hostiles at once.

And surrender is out of the question for someone like him, unless he wished to simply crawl up and die.

The foremost hypothetical sounded much more preferable.

 _Ghost, describe the other two._

His companion faltered. _"Uh, right. One has a full set of some kind'a white combat-esque armor with blue accents. He's got your weapons. The other looks like...uhm...well"_ he trailed off.

 _Ghost...?_

" _I know, I know! She's...different."_

 _A "she"?_ Caldus asked.

" _Y-yes"_ Ghost replied _._

 _And what does she look like?_ the Exo persisted.

" _Uh, Do...do you know what...uhm...well, uh-"_

They didn't have time for this. _Spit!_

" _-what candy corn looks like?!"_ Ghost nearly screamed.

Caldus paused. _What in-?_

" _JUST..."_ Ghost yelled freakishly, then sighed. " _You'll see..._ " he breathed.

 _Candy co-_? He mentally shook his helm. _It matters not. Is she armed?_

" _Yeah. From what I've seen just now, I'm pretty sure she's got two of those, uh, sword...things._ "

 _Marvelous,_ Caldus replied sarcastically. _I shall attempt to subdue this one, and then we will wait for the others to travel down the lift where we will provide ambush. Are you prepared?_

" _Cal..."_ Ghost replied, seriousness entering his voice. _"You're in_ no _condition to fight. At all._ "

The Exo leaned forward, arms spread apart, peds shifted and knees bent, ready to move quickly. _Then he should be thankful he has a chance,_ he declared darkly.

Caldus wasn't a fan of doing this to himself, but it was deemed necessary in this instance:

{

SensoryBottleneck(MockNeuralArray(80%));

#Warning! User will have difficulty detecting actions that could cause further injury. Please confirm action(y/n):

Y;

#Action confirmed. Bottlenecking relevant functions...

}

That should lessen the pain he was in. He'll deal with the consequences later.

There was a moment of silence before his companion replied. " _Fiiinnne..._ " he drew out before mumbling to himself, " _Just when I was beginning to like them._ "

The man and took a step forward challengingly.

" _You're gonna have to find a way around that sword, Cal_ " Ghost remarked.

 _Oh, I am well aware of that. Now let me concentrate._ Caldus, who had his shirt in his right servo this whole time, reached over with his left and took hold of the cuffs of both sleeves with that servo, and the bottom waist area with the other. He twisted it tightly into a makeshift rope and held it in front of him, his left servo extending out just a little further than his right. The man rose a brow at this before settling into his former scowl.

" _Sooo...lemme get this straight"_ Ghost casually quipped. _"You're gonna fight a guy...who has a lifesize glow-stick of death_... _with your_ SHIRT? _"_

 _Silence!_ Caldus yelled. _The level of risk should have been apparent from the start._

" _No" Ghost said defyingly. "This is too much, Caldus!"_

The man took a step forward threateningly while exclaiming in his unintelligible dialect. There was no time for arguing. _Then present an alternate plan,_ the Exo nearly commanded. _Now! Otherwise hold. Your. Tongue._

The man took another step.

"... _Let me transmat_ " Ghost finally uttered.

 _Out of the question,_ Caldus instantly replied with finality.

" _Cal, please!_ "

 _That is final! I will not risk your mortality,_ he said as he took a step back.

" _And I have to risk yours?!"_ he shot back. _"I'll stay out of reach of his sword. I'll be fine. You need this advantage._ "

The man crossed the threshold, past the gate, into the hallway. The moonlight no longer illuminated him; only the white Vex lights on the ceiling, and the blue of his blade. Though, unexpectedly, the ceiling lights flickered off, enveloping the man in the light of his sword, and Caldus in a near-total darkness that was only compromised by the gravity lift behind him, which had turned on at the same time, and the constant glow of his optics. Caldus saw him flinch before hastily glancing upwards before returning concentration to him.

 _Easily distracted,_ he mused. _Both weakened and on edge_.

Glancing down himself, he saw that his shadow was splayed on the ground between him and the man. A shadow that sequentially diminished and reappeared along with the aura of the lift behind him.

 _A strobing effect,_ he realized. _Shadows._ The ceiling lights flickered back on, the lift powered down, and the shadows disappeared. The lighting seemed more intense this time around. The man squinted. Caldus's optics merely contracted briefly before resuming dilating again to. Caldus had been given an idea so crazy it just might work.

 _Abusing biology. Splendid._ The sense of sight was primary for humans. Wreaking havoc on such a vital tool can be devastating.

At this point Ghost had taken a hint and kept quiet, but was still figuring out what the heck Cal' was going on about.

But why did the lights toggle in the first place? The suspect hadn't even entered the circle pad yet, not that doing so would've done anything. And the string of ideas that flowed through his processor by the simple action seemed too irresistibly uncoincidental. Almost as if it was on...purpose...

 _Ahh,_ Caldus trailed in realization. There's only one, or ones, nearby, besides Ghost, who had been inside his mind, who knows how he thinks. _I seem to already have the advantage an ally can provide, Ghost,_ he said.

It took a moment, but it finally clicked for his companion. " _You've gotta be kidding me,_ "he quietly proclaimed in astonishment.

 _They shall give us the signal. Standby,_ he told him.

{

CreateCondition;

{

If (OpticalSensory[AmbientLight]) is Int(AmbiantLight[current]) then (Activate(NV));

}

}

He prepared his processor so that if the ambient lighting diminishes in the slightest, his internal night vision will activate. The intense light of the blue blade would make discerning the man's figure under night vision difficult, but not impossible. For this plan to work, Caldus _needed_ to shut off the glow of his own optics, and the only currently-programmed way to do that was by turning on night vision. He didn't have time to re-modify his own software, so turning on NV was the only way to do that at the present moment.

Caldus took an inviting step to the left, and the man did the opposite, stepping to the right, his sword still straight up at his side. Another step, and another, cautious step. They were circling each other for a short time. The man had moved past the circular pad until finally Caldus stopped when his back fully faced the left-side wall of the hallway. He and the man had essentially rotated 90 degrees at this point. The strobing blue hues coming from the gravity lift to his right would intensify at any moment, now.

If he can't win with power, he'll move to a game of psychology. _Overload the sense of sight, and you cripple the ability to fight in the first place._

His left servo loosened its grip on the shirt's cuffs slightly.

" _Here we go_ " Ghost whispered nervously.

...He was ready...

...

 _..._

... _There is only the next step_...

...It went by in a blur...

The ceiling lights shut off, and the fiery-orange glow of his optics vanished. He saw the man minimally flinch at the change. The image his optics produced was grainy, distorting his view of the figure ever-so-slightly, and the glowing sword he held was almost too bright to look at, but he could see enough. He can work with this.

For a brief period, Caldus was effectively engulfed in darkness, while leaving his opponent illuminated by his own sword. Caldus flung his shirt to his right. The shirt, still twisted up, contrasted with the lift in the background as the shirt passed in front of it, created a snake-like silhouette that flashed in the corner of the man's vision. The disorientation of the lift's strobing effect cause the man to perform a lightning-fast swing in its direction, grazing the edge of it. Nonetheless. the man barely had time to acknowledge the violent creaks and moans of moving metal of the sequentially-lit form of the bipedal machine who had bent over and charged him, passing the effective distance of his blade and tackling him to the ground before he could retaliate.

 **(Track 4 29:40)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: " _Sands of the Hourglass_ "**


	6. A Nosedived Defense

**Howdy. Been awhile, huh?**

 **Lot's happened since the last chapter. D2: Shadowkeep (TRIANGLES), The Mandalorian (best thing to happen to Disney, btw), Fallen Order (Respawn totally ripped Caldus's pet name 'Cal for that one), D2: Season of Dawn (unfortunately I haven't gotten around to playing either of these DLC), and now Episode 9 (EDIT: After seeing it myself I can say that it's definitely my favorite of the sequels, at the very least).**

 **Also, I retconned a** _ **little**_ **of the previous chapter. Nothing too important (e.g., modified a little of the description of Caldus's appearance to make him look more, well, like a normal 'Exo'-skeleton, and I got rid of that silly thing about Caldus having night-vision. Seriously, what was I thinking?) Also got rid of that "REDACTED" chapter as well, as you might have noticed recently.**

 **I'm working on another story apart from this one, so updates will be as you expect. But, this is also the longest chapter of the story so far, so there's that, at least.**

 **As usual, links to the tracks will be listed both here, and in my bio (copy/pasting from the bio is the preferable option).`**

 **Oh, and Merry Christmas. o/**

 **TRACKS USED:**

 **1\. (SW "Ahsoka's Theme" on loop) watch?v=KOdarxeMhsM**

 **2\. (D1 "The Collective") watch?v=URqRFD1O6IQ**

 **3\. (SW "Millennium Falcon Suite") watch?v=5pqtN8vbRuE**

 **4\. (D2 "Lost Light" on loop) watch?v=rHcTPS8-n_I**

 **5\. (D2 "The Farm") watch?v=U8ilLSEjlAQ**

 **6\. (D1 "The Great Unknown") watch?v=_fkoeg9vymw**

 **7\. (D2 "No Mercy" Full version) watch?v=PbiX4iuMEdU**

* * *

 **[Silence]**

 **Six hours after the evacuation order...**

The Negotiator sighed, right hand resting against the head of the pilot's seat. _I wish Cody were here right about now,_ Kenobi mused as he watched Jakku loom ever closer. Obi-Wan had temporarily dispatched Cody and the rest of the 212th to assist Master Plo-Koon and his 104th Battalion on Kiros, ever since the world's recent alignment with the Republic.

He peered over his shoulder. "Are you sure everyone made it?"

"There's no way to know for sure, Sir, but the last one to sound off in the pods was the chief of engineering. Just as you instructed," replied a clone officer who sat in the right-hand row of seats behind him. He wore a mono headset with a microphone extension, and held a datapad in his hand, whose screen was busy with scrolling information. "All operational fighters and transports are accounted for, as well."

"And the admiral?" he pressed.

"Accounted for, as well, Sir, and on the mend." The clone's face then expressed brief surprise before he turned his head away and pressed his left two fingers against the side of his headset. "I copy. List off now, over" he said quietly into his microphone.

Obi-Wan glanced down before turning back to the viewport. The orbiting sun had hidden itself behind the dust ball by now, and so it was impossible to navigate without the help of the sonar, infrared, and coordinate map that the pod provided them via a small blue screen set adjacent to the pod's yoke; or more colloquially, the steering wheel. He had ordered all personnel to touch down at similar coordinates as Anakin and his team: behind the nearby mountain range, though this time in a more open region. He had a grave suspicion his former padawan would be needing their help.

What made this difficult, however, was that by now Jakku's orbit had placed them dreadfully off course. This wasn't as big a deal with the many, _many_ spacecraft that zoomed past both them and the planet's moon already. The problem was for the pods themselves, which weren't designed for maneuverability. To compensate for this, Obi-Wan had the brilliant idea of letting the planet's orbit carry them until they were within the necessary angle of travel to reach their destination. But they had to be careful, for if they lingered in the outermost portions of atmosphere for too long, the pods would burn up.

"Acknowledged. Out" he heard the officer behind him reply through his headset loud enough to get Obi-Wan's attention. He peered around and saw the clone look at him as he spoke. "Confirmed the list of supplies a second time, General. Compared to a fully supplied Venator it's not much, but it's enough rations, arms, and medicine to last all of us a couple 'a weeks under the worst conditions."

Obi-Wan nodded. "That will have to do," he simply said, then turned back.

The General wished they all had more time and resources available to them this time around. After the recent siege of Umbara, and freeing the people of Kiros immediately after, the _Defender_ was experiencing a shortage of supplies and soldiers. But the Chancellor had told them all that time was of the essence, and they couldn't afford to restock, nor did they think they would have to. But worrying himself about that now would be useless. They would use what they had, and it would be enough.

His senses were still off balance, and his mind felt fuzzy. Yet, he could still sense a vague warning for the journey ahead. And something else... Something...large. His head bowed, and he closed his eyes to concentrate, and a moment passed before he his eyes shot open. It was another warning from behind them. "What's the status of the _Defender_ " he asked both the pilot and the officer.

The pilot reached for several buttons that lay across the console, one by one. "Still dead as a wamprat, Sir. Though scanners show it isn't tumbling as much as it wa-"

He paused. "Wait a moment." The clone then hastily pushed more buttons and looked back at the screen. "That can't be right" he mumbled to himself.

"What is it?" The Jedi asked with urgency.

"It's...still directly behind us, a rough two-hundred kilometers back."

Obi-Wan lifted a right hand to support his chin. "Are you saying it's _following_ us?!" he pressed with frustration.

The pilot shook his head. "I don't think so, General. She's also stabled out, and her bow is showing increasing signs of external damage. Typical signs of exposure to a..." the pilot did a douple-take, "...a _tractor beam?_ "

The Jedi's eyes widened. "Are you _serious_?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "There's no tractor beam strong enough to pull a ship that size from this distance!"

"Could be what the Seppies have been up to, here, Sir," the pilot offered.

The general closed his eyes and raised a hand to massage them. No. He knew the Force's voice when it spoke, fuzzy and distorted as it was, and it wouldn't let Kenobi reach such a simple conclusion.

No, something else was afoot, here in the Outer Rim.

Something no one was prepared for.

* * *

 _ **Earlier...**_

Ahsoka found herself at the highest level of the spire. The gravity lift was quite an unnerving experience, especially for Rex, who, to his unadmitted relief, was instructed by Commander Tano to stay behind and keep watch on their new droid acquaintances. "These are the only weapons of ours that still work, Commander," he said holding out by the barrel one of his two blaster pistols, which she accepted with a nod before being carried up.

At last, Ahsoka began to understand what made her master so weak. Apparently whatever disturbance was causing this disconnect from the Force was strongest here, in this very room. It didn't affect her severely, but it was certainly noticeable, now.

Her eyes darted all around the room, and she strained to see through the dimly lit concrete-esque box. She reached her right hand to one of her lightsabers hanging from her waist, and, despite what she learned earlier on the gunship, attempted to ignite it again, but of course to no avail. "Of _course_ " she deadpanned quietly. The blade didn't even begin to extend this time around. With an annoyed sigh, she roughly clipped the hilt back in place.

 **[Track 1 Start]**

Catching her by surprise, a sudden surge of the energetic anomaly erupted in her mind. Ahsoka squinted in pain, and she was swift to place her left hand over her forehead as she bent over, involuntarily reaching out with her right arm to brace herself against the lip of something in front of her. Her heart was racing and she tried to fight it, to purge it out of her mind.

The room resonated loudly with the same unfamiliar energy. It was fuzzy, even muffled, but had great volume. What was more strange, however, was how uneasy this made her feel. No, not the fact that she had trouble with discernment. The presence of the energy itself was the issue. In many ways it felt like the coldness one feels when exposed to the dark side of the Force; only, she had felt the dark before. This was different. It was like her master told her earlier, more empty and without passion. Alarm bells were going off in her mind. The Force is connected to all living beings to such an intimate degree, down to the smallest emotional and mental subtleties of an individual. To use the Force is to give it proportional access to yourself. Being a Jedi, Ahsoka had little to hide from the Galaxy-Binder.

Imagine giving the same access to a total stranger.

Once the surge had passed, she opened her eyes and found, to her surprise, that she was bracing herself against the rim of a hollow, rectangular solid. A tomb. She noticed small puddles of a white goo that pooled within. The liquid appeared to move on it's own, and they even occasionally emitted a minuscule, self-contained bolt of electricity.

"This is it" she whispered to herself. Ahsoka didn't even know for sure what "it" is, but she was so incredibly certain that this is what they were looking for to begin with. "This has to be."

She was quite startled when a feint, feminine voice suddenly spoke to her, politely and invitingly:

 **[Track 2 Start]**

" _Communicate with them._ "

Ahsoka jerked her head up in surprise and swiftly turned around in a fighting stance; knees bent, elbows tucked at her sides. She was greeted only by the soft glow of the lift. A chill ran down her spine. _Slag, I already hate this place..._.

" _Touch it,_ " the voice whispered once more.

She turned back around, spinning on her heel, to find, once again, nothing and no one. Fed up, the padawan shouted, "Who are you!?" Her head rotated to and fro, keeping sure no one could sneak up on her from a blind spot.

 _Wait_... She thought to herself after a time, and halted her frantic movement. _That voice. I've heard it before, haven't I?_

...

" _ **Hope. Peace. Tranquility."**_

She took a deep breath and listened, mentally reaching within herself, and came to realize that the voice did _not_ originate externally, but rather was sourced from within. How it got there and why she didn't know, which worried her. She could feel the mysterious energy resonate alongside the voice's next words:

" _Discover what we once sought,"_ it continued, maintaining a calm, gentle tone, but Ahsoka felt a heaviness in those words. " _Take the next step_." Implanted in her mind, was the implication of reaching out her hand and touching the substance; an action she vehemently refused to perform.

On another note, once opened, the flood of unpleasant memories was difficult to close, and the frightening, gurgling roar of the monster echoed like a small town's emergency bell within her head.

" _ **Facades!"**_

The commander grit her teeth in a kind of frustration in which she had to fight to contain, lest it turn to actual anger. Whoever was speaking had somehow established a connection with her mind, the most private and vulnerable part of anyone, without invite or prior knowledge. It even had the _nerve_ to start speaking to her and telling her what she should do. It was quite the personal breach.

"And why should I trust you?" she all but demanded.

" _ **You cannot hide."**_

She squinted, and once more shook the memory away.

" _You possess enough trust for this,"_ it replied, her voice contrasting greatly with the prior threat.

Ahsoka scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right," she said sarcastically, more to herself than anyone else. Who knows what would happen. Maybe it's carries an ailment. Perhaps it would flat out kill her from the seeming electricity that courses through it. Her instincts were demanding caution.

A strange, unexpected thing occurred, then: Slowly, and without her knowledge, all trepidation, all worry fled her, and she became unusually calm.

Ahsoka found her eyes slowly locked onto the casket of their own accord, and her mind became hazy. Her feelings became strangely comforted, and numbed. A lazy step later, she decided that she shouldn't turn back, now. This could be the only way to get the answers they came for.

Plus, curiosity beckoned her, after all.

She could feel the liquid calling out. A small part of her wanted to know what would happen. She stepped forward until she reached the casket and peered down, and hesitantly extended her left arm forward, inching her way towards the anomaly. The mysterious energy resonated louder in response. Jumbles of spoken, indiscernible words flowed to her montrals, encouraging her on, as she got closer, and closer, and closer, when she heard a louder echo of her prior dream-vision. But unlike the previous escaping remembrances, it didn't originate from her mind...

...but rather, straight ahead. The lighting changed in her peripherals, and she looked ahead. The portion of the room beyond the casket had been engulfed by blackness, but that wasn't her source of attention. The room radiated the chilling sound of a consistently blowing wind mixed with an equally consistent screaming, coupled with a loud, bass vibration.

She jerked her body straight up, her eyes were wide open in fright. She began to shake uncontrollably. Ahsoka couldn't even bring herself to move and she could've sworn she felt ice forming on her skin, but she couldn't tear her gaze away to check.

the long-horned silhouette was outlined by an eerie glow of white and black that changed its pattern fluidly. The three green eyes pierced into her soul, as before. She was stunned in terror as it slowly extended out its large, damaged wings. She could see many holes and scars in the skin of its wings. It's low growl shook the entire room. It was smaller than the last time she saw it; more akin to the height of a gundark, and excluding it's wingspan, half its width.

When it spoke, she could see that same eerie white light launch itself out of its spike-littered mouth.

" _ **WHERE IS THE LAST?!"**_

 **[Track 2 End, Silence]**

The sudden shout made Ahsoka unconsciously blink. Then she blinked again. And again. It was gone. The room returned to normal. She checked the skin of her arms; no ice. The only sound to be heard was that of her labored breathing, and her next words.

"I'm out of my league."

The Force never gave her visions of this magnitude. Never made her feel this way, and especially to this degree. The Force has never influenced her so directly in all her young life, nor could she recall any instance of this happening to her peers and elders, alike.

This wasn't the Dark Side. She was positive of that, now. No, this was _completely_ foreign and unknown. And it was out to get her.

She quickly spun around and made to descend from the lift. _I need to talk to Anakin,_ she told herself, _He'll know what to do._ She still could rely on her gut, and thus, the adventurous, snippy student decided against the path of recklessness. A rare occurrence, indeed.

The blue glow of the lift provided the necessary light to illuminate the floor between them. Ahsoka traversed the distance, the pattering of the tred of her boots lightly echoing through the room, but right when she was about to reach the edge, the low hum of the lift disappeared, followed by the blue light. She tripped over her own feet and nearly fell, waving her arms in a circular motion and arching her back to avoid just that. Ahsoka succeeded in falling the opposite direction, on the floor behind her, smack on her hindquarters. She let out a grunt, and swiftly stood once more, her hand instinctually making contact with the impacted area. She swallowed. "I've got a _bad_ feeling about this."

 **[Track 3 Start]**

" _I'm sorry_ , _"_ she then heard the female voice say with remorse. The tone of her voice unsettled Ahsoka; as if it wasn't referring to her initial fall, but rather something much worse. She removed the blaster pistol Rex had handed to her from her waist. The Togruta creaked her head over her shoulder, but jerked it back front and center when her peripherals picked up the reemergence of the lift's light. At first she trained the muzzle directly ahead, but soon relented to a low-ready position.

The roof above the lift momentarily darkened to reveal a shadowy silhouette. However, Ahsoka didn't have to time to process the exact shape before the entity emerged from the lift with speed, plopping it's metallic, clawed feet onto the hard floor with a clank. She couldn't help but stare at a familiar, single, large and beady red eye that stood roughly a head above her own, and that's ignoring the intricate half-circle that crowned the machine's head.

A bullseye if ever there was one, and young Tano was already through taking chances.

It only had enough time to take a single step before Ahsoka readied her blaster with both hands, elbows bent, with the right elbow positioned parallel with the ground, and left pointing more straightly down, and pulled the trigger. She had forgotten just how quiet it was around her. While not of enough volume to damage her hearing, the room nonetheless reverberated loudly with the sound of the ejected plasma, the small, sealed space giving the sound of each shot more of a twang. For a split-second the bolt itself lit up the entire room as it traveled, making the whole situation rather disorienting. It impacted the machine's right shoulder, making it recoil and whine in response, but completely missing the head.

She mentally kicked herself. _Fragging jerked the fragging trigger! Shabbit!_ The droid's gun arm went limp, so it couldn't fire back, at least. But it picked up it's pace trying to reach her. Ahsoka realigned her sights and shot again, this time taking extra care to keep the muzzle still when squeezing.

It payed off. Ahsoka witnessed not just the red eye powering off, but the _entire_ _head_ was separated from the rest of the body. The padawan wasn't expecting the affect to be _that_ extravagant. Sparks flew atop the neck where the disconnect occurred, as well as a familiar white fluid that sputtered out of the same location. The rest of the droid's body spasmed and its limbs flailed as it took several steps back.

She was rather pleased with herself. Sure, the distance was not very great; less than a handful of meters, but the shot was well placed- _Wait a minute..._

...But it never actually fell _down_.

Her eyes widened and a brow marking rose when she witnessed the droid stabilize itself once more, though still possessing the occasional creak and spasm. It yelled, no, _screamed_ was more like it, in a very robotic tone, and started to charge her. To make matters worse, behind the injured machine came another of the same make, and at full functionality. It, too, crept towards her, though at a slower pace.

 _Slag..._

Ahsoka raised her blaster again and rapidly fired into the charging droid multiple times. The flashes of light of the plasma made it difficult to make heads or tails of her quickly advancing foes, and some bolts missed their mark, but she knew around two or three landed center mass. One bolt particularly, she knew, _definitely_ ruptured the machine's transparent abdomen, due to the fact that the droid proceeded to _explode_ in a shower of white goo; the very substance she did not want to come into contact with. she recoiled, clamping her eyes shut, turned her head away and extended her arms as a makeshift shield, and it made contact. It was hot enough to nearly burn her skin.

But Ahsoka did not have time to contemplate what it would do to her, now. She recovered in time to rotate and pop off a few more bolts in the direction of the other advancing droid, but during all of that she noticed two more cyclops' emerging from the lift, and already advancing. The last droid, however, was much larger than its counterparts. It's plating was more dense, and it's head was lacking the half-dome that crowned the heads of the others. Stranger, she saw a purple hue that outlined and creepily pulsated around it's body, and Ahsoka swore she heard it crackle as it moved. She had no idea what it did.

As if that wasn't bad enough, slung over the giant droid's shoulder was the limp form of-

She gasped. "Rex!" she cried out, but there was no response. Like the others, one of the giant's forearms was a dedicated cannon. In its off hand, however, she saw a bundled collection of weapons clumped in it's grip.

" _Don't resist,_ " the voice spoke to her. It seemed clearer than before, but regardless, Ahsoka was too preoccupied, and now pissed, to listen to it.

The closest droid dropped on a knee when a bolt impacted it's leg, but it was already close enough that it reached out and grasped her shin. She yelped in surprise and tried to pull away, but it's grip was too strong. She settled to using her other foot to kick the machine's head with an audible yell. The tred of her boot clanged against the metallic surface, and the droid recoiled and whined. Just then, another droid got in proximity and grabbed her gun arm by the wrist and arched it upward, and thus the muzzle of the pistol, out and away from them. Ahsoka darted her head towards it, growling and gritting her canine-bearing teeth as she thrashed to break free, and even accidentally fired a stray bolt from the pistol in the processes.

Things were looking grim. Out of desperation, though knowing her connection was, due to the overpowering nature of the unknown energy, limited, if not completely _off_ limits here, she called upon the Force, focusing whatever amount that would answer into her right palm, and extended it out in a push, towards the most recently offending machine to her left. The act resulted in the droid shaking and roboticly screaming in agony.

But to her surprise, there was no desired launch. In swift retaliation, the same droid cocked back it's gun-arm and thrusted it straight into her abdomen. It was powerful enough that the motor functions of the machine's joints could be heard in their very movement. The action instantly made her double over, knocking the wind out of her, and even involuntarily clench her pistol, making it fire once again; she was then quickly relieved of the weapon by the relevant machine. She tried desperately to catch her breath, forcing her diaphragm to stretch and intake air. She then coughed profusely, spitting up saliva that had practically been _thrown_ down the wrong tube. The injured droid on her other side tried to climb up and grab her shoulder, but it ended up with her knees buckled from the weight, and she fell.

 _This isn't good,_ she told herself worryingly.

" _You'll be alright..."_ replied the voice, soothingly, but Ahsoka had ran out of energy to even pay attention to it.

She knew she still had at least a little access to the Force, so in a last ditch effort, Ahsoka screamed as loud as her mind had strength, across to the other end of her bond with her master, before receiving one, last, powerful blow from the same droid as before; only this time directly atop her sensitive montrals.

 **[Silence]**

* * *

 _ **Present...**_

The only ambient sound to be heard was the hum of the lift. The lights remained switched off, leaving the fight to be had in the darkness. Hard punches and pain-filled grunts were sourced by both opponents within the Vex hallway.

The machine was relentless. While the man's saber was swung to the right, he charged him, fluidly pinning the man's arm to his front and slamming his shoulder against him, shoving him to the wall. Caldus's strikes were without pause. He had to disarm this man and bring him to the ground as fast as he could. Fisted servos rammed him in the abdomen and head, and he tried to jerk free the sword from his hand.

The human, on the other hand, was nearly as brutal. He cocked back his left fist and it impacted the machine's helm. Caldus recoiled with a yell. The man then reached with his left and yanked It's hand off of him, and swung wide from left to right, the blade giving an audible tell to the strength of the swing. Caldus bent back and away, missing the tip of the blade, and took the opportunity to go for the arm. The man swung back the opposite direction, but Caldus grabbed the wrist in time and angled it over their heads and back around to the Exo's left, throwing the arm against the wall and then pinning it with his left servo directly atop his wrist.

Caldus kneed the man between the legs, making him double over, before he raised his right fist and, as if he was about to give the hardest knock on a door in his life, brought down the bottom of his fist on the man's forearm, atop the wrist itself. The impact produced two, separate but close in timing metallic clanks, one against the gloved wrist and the concrete wall, and the other between his wrist and Caldus's own fist. The act loosened the man's grip on the hilt, and after outstretching his right servo to deflect the man's oncoming swing from his left arm, the Exo was swift and bringing a flat-palmed left servo up and swiped it across the man's same forearm, across the wrist, and across the palm. The man's fingers gave way, and the hilt was flung out of his hand and bounced along the ground less than a handful of meters away.

The Exo then darted his left arm over and grabbed the top of the man's thick hair. The machine yanked his head down, but Caldus couldn't get him to the ground. He kept throwing punches into his abdomen. Instead, the human charged forward, throwing the machine off balance. Caldus landed on his back, and the man somersaulted overtop him and finished on a knee and rose to his feet.

Caldus rolled to the right onto his own knee and sprung to his peds. He stayed between the man and his weapon. They both paused in their tracks for a moment as they inspected one another. The man was breathing hard, and the machine exhaled a long, single, smoky breath that sounded like an angry feline's hiss. Neither said a word.

Then out of the blue, the man outstretched his right arm; an act that confused the Exo. He then suddenly heard his Ghost shout within his mindspace, _"DUCK!"_

Caldus obeyed in time, and ducked his head as he crouched to the ground. He heard something whiz by him overhead. He looked up at his opponent to find in his grasp, once again, the hilt of the sword.

The machine's optics contracted in shock. He heard quiet, flabbergasted murmurs from Ghost in the back of his mind as well. The blade was ignited again. It didn't matter if they understood what they had just witnessed; Caldus had lost his advantage.

" _Mother of glimmer..."_ Ghost breathed in fright. _"That's, uh,_ new _."_

The man pointed the blade at them and sidestepped to the middle of the hallway, closer to the lift. He sported a cocky grin on his bruised face. Caldus's concentrated scowl never wavered, by contrast. The man took a sudden step forward, and the Exo was quick to backpedal. There was no way in any universe he would charge someone with a sword without, at the very least, one of his own.

 _Retreat may be our only option, now,_ Caldus stated, words laced with hidden worry.

" _You think he'll come after us?"_ Ghost hurriedly asked before continuing. _"And if he does, are we even able to outrun him? There's nowhere to hide outside."_

 _It is a chance we may have to take_ , he responded. They could only hope that the Exo, even in his injured state, could outrun him.

Then the floor softly rumbled beneath their feet. Caldus glanced down. _It was just as it did before_ , the Exo realized.

No. They wouldn't run.

Realizing what was about to happen, Caldus quickly shut his optics and tightly squinted his brows and lower cheek risers, which act the same as the facially-expression muscle atop a human's cheek bones, which sat below the optical cavity, to form an almost full seal. The ceiling lights than snapped back on instantaneously, and at max capacity, enveloping the entire hallway in a light so bright it would temporarily blind an eye that has already become accustomed to darkness.

Which is what precisely what happened to the human. Caldus was alerted to that fact by the subsequent cry of shock he uttered when the lights switched. The Exo kept his optics contracted, then opened them, letting a slight opening slit form between the brows and risers to see. He saw that the man had tightly shut his eyes and slightly shielded them with his offhand. Seizing the opportunity, Caldus charged him again at a full sprint.

The man heard the fast steps of his opponent's boots and the squeaking and grinding of his joints. He swung wide and diagonally from upper left to lower right. Caldus, who was in range of the blade at this time, dodged the move by ducking to his right, his back barely missing the arc of the blade. He snapped back to full stature and took advantage of the man's outstretched arm and grasped the wrist with his left servo and held it in place, while at the same time jutting out his right arm, and forcefully grabbed his throat. The machine then slid his right foot over and behind the man's left, and pushed forward with his right arm. The human tripped, and with his blade arm still outstretched, Caldus swiveled on his heel, and bent his knees and let the man's weight pull both of them down in a circular arc, with Caldus's swiveling foot acting as the circle's center point. He landed on his back with a thud, and Caldus landed on his right knee atop the man's abdomen, which knocked the wind out of him.

It was quick, disorienting, and had a flair of brutish gracefulness.

* * *

He struggled to breath. He would let out a choked sound when he could, but the vice-grip and nigh-unretaliatory pressure of the single hand that wrapped around his throat was more than effective.

Anakin was right. This was _It,_ or at least he was pretty sure. The glowing orange eyes that stared back mere inches away were as fierce as a gundark's. But there was no _purple_ to be witnessed. That was a vital key. The whats or whys, he didn't know; he just _knew_ it was important, like how one knows what's going on in a dream without need of introduction to the situation.

Anakin's saber hand was rendered immobile due to It's other hand on his own gloved, mechanical wrist, while his left had been trying to remove the vice that was clamped around his throat.

He needed oxygen. Fast.

Skywalker was lying on his back, the right knee of his attacker painfully resting all It's weight on his abdomen. He couldn't get room or leverage to kick him. He already tried a punch to It's face...and immediately regretted it. Granted, it wasn't as hard as he may have expected since his he thought he felt a little give in the metal, but the pain was not worth the brief lapse of It's concentration. So in a final, desperate attempt, he diverted the majority of his attention and focus, which briefly allowed the droid to further enforce his choke, to summon the Jedi's constant ally, and bottled it into his left hand. He forcefully shot out the hand with a grunt, commanding the Force around him to push his assailant away.

It recoiled. It's face constricted, It's glowing eyes squinted, and It let out a quick, pain-filled, and odd-sounding yell that seemed to be mixed with that of a machine's static and a large feline's hiss, And it's mouth was alit with the same fiery color. But that was all. It wasn't even a second later when It regained composure and thrusted It's hand harder on his throat.

He gagged and reflexively thrashed around, clawing for _some_ form of escape. _How did you..._ was the only word he could mentally express before It swiftly changed tactics. Anakin's right arm was freed when It's hand darted to his hair once more. It pulled back It's left hand into a fist and slammed it into his head, sending it flying back onto the cold, hard floor. Anakin let out a hard, muffled grunt, and he tried to block his strikes by covering his face with his forearms, but It was swift in swiping them away for a second blow.

By the third echoing impact, he was rendered unconscious; therefore, he could not register the fourth, or fifth.

* * *

{

ResetFunction(AlertStatus);

ResetFunction(SensoryBottleneck);

#Warning! Action will result in a spike of neural in/output. Prepare for potentially great pain...

}

He wheezed as he rolled off and to the left of his unconscious attacker, and laid on his back. The energy he burned to ward him off caused a great deal of strain to the already injured portions of his back and right shoulder. The automatic routines of his brain refocused their attention to his injury after the violent encounter. He growled in pain, the plates of his face scrunching tightly together, forcefully biting his denta as his processor received the sudden burst of loud neural readings.

" _That was close, Cal,"_ Ghost quietly, and shakily murmured in his mind with relief. " _Too close_."

Even despite his frame's intrinsic dulling of pain, it was quite the ordeal just to keep the man pinned down. He was _much_ stronger than he let on. If the man was at full strength, Caldus was sure events would've quickly gone sour.

 _I am inclined to agree,_ he replied, and gritting denta as he inhaled air to cool his central heatsink. He exhaled smoky, gaseous waste from the portion of his internal fluids that evaporated during the fight.

The painful neural information had, at this point, been mostly filtered through his processor, and sent to direct his mobility inhibitor protocol. Moving was no longer quite as uncomfortable, but the range of motion was currently more limited. Carefully turning his helm to the right, he saw the chrome-plated cylindrical hilt the man had attempted to use against him. Once again gingerly rolling over to his right until his chest was atop the hilt, with a groan he applied most of the required pressure to lift himself up from his clenched left servo. Bending the knees and lightly stabilizing himself with his right arm, he reached underneath him and grasped the hilt with his left, and stood, again being careful to not put much leveraged force upon his back.

" _Now that's out of the way, can we talk about what just happened back there? Twice?!"_

 _You detected it as well?_ Caldus asked.

Ghost raised his voice. _"How could I not?"_ A pause. _"You know, I think I finally know what it's like to get the wind knocked out of you. Not fun. At all."_

Caldus hummed in response. _Interesting you say that._

When the man shoved his left palm forward towards them, his spark reacted violently, akin to the swift repelling force of a magnet in imminent proximity. For a moment he feared that what little paracausal energy that remained to keep him alive would awake from dormancy, or even worse, escape. So Caldus retaliated brutally, mustering all his remaining strength to overpower him.

Even the attack gesture used seemed all too familiar. Like a generic palm-thrust he trained to perform back in his beginning days with-

-He quickly shook his head.

" _No shit, Sherlock,"_ Ghost sourly responded. _"That's probably because I'm linked with the part of you that took the effing brunt of it."_

Caldus ignored his companion's sour mood, and continued to process the phenomena _._ Save for the wave that launched and entrapped him when the gate to the _Hourglass_ opened up, this was quite new. But unlike the former experience, this energy was more focused, and intentional, with purpose; on _him_ , specifically.

But that was not even the most intriguing event. They both saw him extend his hand and pull his weapon into his grasp. _His power could be a form of telekinesis,_ the Exo suggested. _Yet, within the finer details...it is incredibly familiar._ Something about the affect sung to a tune that he thought he was right there, on the tip of his metaphorical tongue, yet he simply couldn't distinguish the phenomenon.

 **[Track 4 Start on** **Loop** **]**

Caldus growled and chose to speak audibly. "Shulday! Why can I not pinpoint it!?"

The Exo then outstretched his right arm and pointed with the first two digits at the stranger. "Scan him, Ghost," he said. On command his companion materialized beside him. "With pleasure," he replied with enthusiasm, and he hovered over to the unconscious man, but then added, "Though this isn't Old-Hollywood, Rust Butt. This guy ain't gonna be out for very long."

"If he awakes, we kill him," Caldus answered with simplicity. He walked past them both, in the direction of the lift, to retrieve the shirt he had flung earlier. "Ever-merciful, you are" Ghost mocked.

The Exo briefly stored the hilt in the front-left pocket of his jeans. Picking it up off the floor by the shoulders and lifting it with both servos to optic-level, letting the fabric hang down, he could see upon the front chest area, a thin and long cut from where the man's blade had grazed it; starting at the shirt's right shoulder area and stretching across, stopping just a few inches above the bottom seam on the left side.

Despite the gash, he slid on the shirt anyway. There was plenty of tension on the fabric to prevent it from drooping down awkwardly. It only showed a thin exposed line across the relevant space. Then he removed the hilt from his pocket, and the Exo lifted up his full servo, and peered down at the object held amidst, and began to inspect it. He found two knobs towards the hilt's top, one in front and the other in back, and a protruding rectangular piece ninety-degrees from each, further down in the middle. Making sure to keep the ignition end of the hilt pointed away from himself, he turned to make a casual walking pace out of the _Hourglass_ as he fiddled with the knobbed controls, twisting them in either direction experimentally. Nothing noticeable came of it, so he switched his attention to the lower rectangle. As it turned out, the top portion of the piece was a long button that, after a press with a thumb digit, shot out with a zap, and away from him extended familiar blue blade. There was little inertia to the act, he observed. The blade remained nearly motionless in his servos. He therefore assumed the mass of the projection was quite minimal.

Though, for some strange reason, the blade was much shorter than it was before. _Curious...Ah, yes._ He realized it must have been caused by an altering of one of the knobs. Testing the frontwardmost knob, he found that it did not increase or decrease the blade's length, but it did however alter the volume of the blade's buzzing. _An energy regulator, perhaps._ A way to manage it's battery life. _Does it even possess such a power supply?_

"Hmm" he heard Ghost quietly hum from behind him. Stopping to turn around the Exo found him scanning the human. The blue, transparent, and data-filled cone enveloped the man as Ghost hovered around, inspecting him at different angles.

The Exo puffed in amusement at the sight. "Again, what was it that you said, regarding him awaking immanently?" Caldus asked. Ghost detected a sliver of sarcasm laced in the remark, and relished it. Not often does he bother to hone his sense of humor.

The glow disappeared shortly after, and Ghost turned to face his accuser. "You calling me slow, old man?" he snipped with mock offense. The playful tone vanished after he saw no change in Caldus's expression. "Look, something reallystrange happened back there," he briefly glanced back at the man, "to _both_ of us, and for our sake, I intend to find out what _,_ " Then back at Caldus, bobbing his floating form at the saying of both italics. "Stars, I'm surprised _you're_ not glowing with curiosity about it." The floating orb then turned away and reignited his scanning apparatus.

The Exo's brows tightened ever so much. He cocked his head to side at a minimum angle. "I _am_ curious, which is why I am leaving such work in your capable care, this iteration."

Ghost halted for a moment, seemingly processing what he said. "Right," he answered briefly and quite offhandedly, turned around, and continued scanning. Ghost mumbled unintelligibly as he continued buzzing around the man; after being alongside someone for as long as he has, you begin to pick up your companion's quirks, specifically in his inflections. Thus, Ghost was wondering what exactly Caldus didn't want to talk about. A thought occurred as to why, but he didn't think it appropriate to consult with him about it yet.

Caldus turned back around and looked down at his prize that remained in his grasp. Focusing on the hilt once more, Caldus found that the rearward knob did what he desired, increasing and decreasing the blade's length depending on the direction he twisted.

The Exo resumed walking out of the spire, and while doing do, he let the tip of the blade fall next to his left side, dragging the tip of it across the floor. He witnessed it instantly heat up with a glow and tear a crude, red-hot gash into it, with some of the melted substance kneading linearly along the edge. The loud, drawn-out sound it produced was akin to molten rock meeting water. The newly-formed linear indentation followed him for roughly a meter before his microphones picked up a strange sound; a feint, yet very baritone vibration that seemed to originate from all directions. Stopping to look around, he lifted the tip of the blade away from the floor, an action from which he noticed the changing of pitch of the blade's hum, and the sound ceased.

"Dude! _Vex,"_ he heard Ghost's chastisement echo a ways behind him. The Radiolaria coursed through this structure with an abnormally-high concentration, for one, and he realized the act of running an seemingly super-heated rod through the floor would be a valid medium for discomfort. He supposed building efficiency was off the table when time was of the essence.

During this, he began to notice black discolorations scattered along the walls, towards the entrance. _Scorch marks_. If he was being honest, he wasn't sure if those had been there prior, but it would explain why the group of Vex that used to reside here had disappeared. Yes, an altercation must have taken place. But there were no Vex bodies to be seen lain upon the floor, which puzzled him. He briefly peered down at the blade and extinguished it, and absentmindedly issued a quiet apology to the surrounding mind fluid for before.

Ghost just shook his form. _What a way to thank them for saving your frame, huh?_ he grumbled internally. _Uptight sonuva-_

The Little Light continued scanning.

The angle at which the marks formed was telling him where the shots originated from. Caldus turned to the grav-lift. No marks along the wall on that side. _Did they not bother to return fire?_ he asked himself. Suddenly, Caldus had an epiphany, and slowly lifted his gaze. "A battle was had here, while I was unconscious. No bodies of any kind. No weapons. Nothing. Therefore, The Vex must be holding them above us _."_ Or, at least, it was possible. He knew the rest of the man's party was up there, but he didn't know if the Vex had actually restrained them.

If they were as much a threat as the human was to him, than they likely were.

Ghost, meanwhile, was hovering around the man's right forearm. Eyeing something resting atop it, he tilted at a slight angle and thrusted the point of one of his adjacent tetrahedrons straight down on the side of a small, round-edged rectangular device. It was freed from the man's glove and clattered to the ground. Ghost's eye tracked it and performed a last, brief scan on the object before lifting focus to his host. "Yo" he called to him. Caldus half-turned and peered back. "Right here" Ghost continued, cocking his orb-frame down to the object. "Check this out." Caldus shifted the hilt to his left servo and walked over, took a knee, and picked up the object with his right. "What is this?" he asked. within the small metallic, flat object, he saw two brass-colored circles on either side. One was larger and had a hollowed out center, the other was smaller but whole; and between them were simple, wavy fish scale patterns strung perpendicular with the device's length.

"Well it doesn't work anymore, but I scanned what seemed like a speaker and microphone on opposite ends of that thing. My guess is some kind of communication device."

Caldus stared at the object thoughtfully. "Can this be repaired?" he asked, not taking his optics off of it.

Ghost scoffed. "Its circuitry's been fried to Timbuktu and back. No way." A shame. Caldus would've liked to have eavesdropped on whoever he had been in contact with.

Caldus's optics shifted ahead to Ghost in response. A quizzical left brow rose. Optics looked back at the device, and squinted as if he was trying to gleam some kind of hidden information it had. "Why would he bother to carry a non-functioning communicator to begin with?" he asked, more to himself than Ghost.

The Exo stood, and looked down at his unconscious opponent. His attire brought even more questions. Were robes customary for this world? Because he saw little practicality in it. He noted the shinguards on his legs, and the singular glove over his right hand. Ignoring the bruising from their fight, he saw that his face sported a deep vertical scar that ran along the outside edge of his right eye, trailing above to the forehead, and down towards the cheek.

"Who _are_ you?" he quietly asked the unconscious man.

Ghost had floated up to his optic level. He suddenly tilted his head, looking up and behind his host. He recoiled with a shout. "Minotaur!" he said before darting to his host and transmatting. Caldus swiveled around and saw a hulking machine be gracefully lowered to the floor. Since the Vex, for whatever reason they had, were willing to aid Caldus in eliminating the threat the human posed, he had gained enough trust with them to not change to a more battle-ready stance. Regardless, that did not mean his observant optics were any less alert.

" _What's it doing here? And why now?"_ Ghost blurted out.

Caldus let out a quiet breath. _We will find out,_ he said reassuringly.

He slid the device in his right jean's pocket. When the Vex got closer so the light of the lift wasn't as drowning, the Exo saw, in the grasp of its offhand, his Scathelocke, with a magazine still seated underneath.

The Minotaur bent its knees when it landed with a resounding clank before straightening. It regarded the smaller machine in front of him for a moment. Caldus then saw it's single, giant, beading optic seem to peer over his shoulder. He did the same, seeing the man splayed behind him. Looking back to the Vex, it began to walk to them. Caldus casually stepped to the left and allowed it to pass. It carelessly dropped the contents of its offhand to the ground when it passed him. Caldus's mouth pursed; at least the Exo equivalent of it. The weapons did not scream quality by any standard, but that was no excuse to add more wear than was needed.

It was also then that Caldus saw his sidearm, a blackened "Roderic-C" model, as well, still in its holster. It must have been tucked between the rifle and the hand so it couldn't be seen before. He slid the human's blade in his left jean's pocket, and quickly moved over to his effects and bent down, first picking up the holstered pistol, and stood. The holster had a high-tension metal clip behind it, and Caldus attached it to the inside front-appendix area of his jeans, and draped his shirt overtop it to test its concealment. Satisfied, he lifted the shirt and pulled the pistol itself out of its holster. He removed the magazine and slightly pulled back the slide to check the chamber; the results were full, and hot, respectively. With his index straight and off the trigger, he gripped the weapon with both servos and extended his arms, and aimed at the ground beside him. He flicked the safety off and the weapon's holographic sight picture sprang into focus. Peering lower, he confirmed that the pistol's backup iron sights were still in usable condition as well. Satisfied, Caldus holstered the pistol again. He then bent over again and grabbed the handguard of the Scathelocke. He was about to perform the same inspection as he did the sidearm, however his peripherals caught an odd sight.

The Exo pressed his brows together when he turned back to the Minotaur. The Vex had slung the limp human over it's shoulder and, without a second thought, made to go back up the grav-lift. _"Uh, okay..."_ Ghost said. _"You think they want him because_ - _"_

 _-Yes,_ Caldus interrupted. The Vex would certainly want to know what was so special about him. Speaking of which: _Ghost, were you finished scanning him?_ he asked.

" _Yeah,"_ Ghost replied, _"I wanna talk to you about that soon, after...whatever's going on here."_

Caldus took a mental note of that, and continued. _Did he have any other possessions on him?_

He felt Ghost cock his frame to the side. _"Eh, well, just a couple of small packs of what looked like medicine and food stuffs on his belt_. _Nothing useful to either of us."_

When it began to pass him, Caldus was swift to grab the upper arm of the Vex's left. The Minotaur stopped and looked down at him, silently. There was something about just how unreadable a Vex's mannerisms can be that always made him uneasy. But the Exo pushed past it. "What are your intentions with him?" the smaller machine demanded.

 **[Silence]**

The Minotaur stood motionless for a period. Then, suddenly, it turned to fully face him, gently twisted it's arm out of his grip, of which Caldus did not protest. The four, long metal fingers from its hand detached from one another, from their original spike formation, into their spider-shaped axial positions, and grasped the Exo's wrist, and slid up the forearm a ways, pushing back the sleeve of his shirt. The Exo looked at its arm and saw radiolaria begin to flow through it and out onto his own. Getting the picture, he returned the gesture and grasped it's own forearm.

Caldus straightened in inclined concentration when he heard the vibratory voice again.

" _ **We...are in error... Depart from here..with haste."**_ They had ignored the question, but Caldus sensed urgency in their alien tones.

"Elaborate," he pressed. He needed to know everything he could.

" _ **Corruption... We could not see... Was too...Dark...to see."**_

Optics constricting, Caldus sucked in a breath, and his servos clenched. He couldn't stop the sudden inhale of cool air into his heatsink. He heard Ghost gasp in the back of his mind. The Exo forced himself to speak. _Is...it singled out?_ he asked.

" _ **Contained..."**_ it confirmed, and they both relaxed somewhat. _**"Isolation...is complete... Pruning...is...immanent. As should...be...your departure..."**_

Caldus peered down in thought. He closed his optics and pulled himself together. That was inherently part of the next step, he knew; but it was not his only question. _What was used against me during our battle?_ He could feel Ghost inclining a metaphorical ear.

" _ **...A superheated rod of energy-"**_

Caldus scowled, and tightened his grip on its arm and quickly jerked it towards him. It didn't move much due to its size, but the Minotaur appeared to get the picture. _Do not dodge my implication,_ he warned. _What..._ he hesitated, and his optics twitched away. Caldus didn't like to talk about his condition in any capacity. He gathered himself and continued, _...attempts to envelop me?_

The Vex, for whatever reason of their own, also seemed hesitant. After a time, _**"...An Invisible Hand..."**_ was all they said. That was nothing to go on. Vague metaphors always frustrated the Exo, and he was about to press further into more specifics when the Minotaur returned the favor, leaned and pulled _him_ closer, so that his giant eye was practically looming over him. Unlike Caldus's attempt, the giant's strength was more effective. He gazed up at it a defiant scowl.

" _ **Find him"**_ They urged. His stout demeanor vanished.

They spoke with a zeal he didn't believe they possessed, but that wasn't at the forefront of his observation.

" _ **To rely...on anyone else...is to fail..."**_ they continued. _ **"His schemes...are your final opportunity..."**_

He tried to jerk his arm out of its grip. It slid a ways, and he was about to succeed when he heard one, final, goodbye.

" _ **...U'mayne yahn, Lare..."**_

He had never wanted to hear that word again.

In the silence, the Vex let go of him, the smaller machine threw its arm away from it and backpedaled to gain a little distance. The Minotaur then, without another thought, turned and let the lift carry both it and the man skyward.

They did not earn the right to say that. He should have just killed it then and there.

The Exo's furious optics followed it for a time, and he glanced briefly at the battered and bruised individual it carried. What they would do with him, he couldn't bring himself to care. He had heavier matters to concern himself with.

Ghost was trying to form a proper response to what had transpired. The Little Light had the unfortunate position of witnessing all that had been done to his companion during his time with that intellectual monster. Ghost eventually resigned to a simple, sparkfelt _"I'm sorry."_

Caldus faceplates expressed a tired heaviness that Ghost found to be all too common with the Exo. His upper mouth-plates occasionally twitched upwards in a feint snarl. _We have always known this was our only course_ , he spat. _Whether we desired it or not._

He swiftly turned to exit the _Hourglass_. Hard steps were paced with hasteful, bitter purpose, and he carried on. He unslinged his Scathelocke. peering down to it, he pressed the stock against his shoulder and held it by the handguard with his offhand. He tilted the firearm to its right side, and with his main hand, slightly pulled back the charging handle. The chamber was hot, and he saw the cartridges that filled the magazine below it. He let go, sending the bolt home, and then slapped the bottom of the magazine to ensure proper seating. The sounds of the weapons being manipulated reverberated menacingly throughout the hall, drumming to the tempo of his boot'ed walk.

Pace unchanged and helm unmoving, he glanced up, straight ahead. His helm formed an inherent scowl from eye-level. He took in the vast expanse of the outside as he got closer and closer to the gate.

He flicked the safety selector to from full, to safe.

* * *

He examined the stairway first, the wide and minimally-sloped pathway down to the dry, cracked-dirt ground; which he found to be an interesting contrast to his surroundings. When he was satisfied, he then slowly scanned the horizon from left to front to right, his optical lids squinting in concentration, and witnessed the same topographical terrain as earlier from within the gravitational lift; rocky mountains reigning to the left, and an incline of sand dunes above that outlined the front to right portions of a large, flat basin in which they and the _Hourglass_ resided.

Caldus heard Ghost hover over to his side. _"_ Pick a direction" _,_ the Exo spoke to him as he continued scanning.

Ghost's frame jerked. "W-what?" he fumbled. "Cal', my compass doesn't work anymore, remember? Plus, even if it did, I'd have no idea where the hell we are, so I wouldn't know where to go," Ghost exasperated, but then seemed to relax when he peered at the mountain range. "Although, I _do_ know that I'd rather not see you climb those mountains in the condition you're in." He sighed heavily, letting silence reign for a time. "Shulday," he quietly swore, almost as if just to himself, "Why couldn't you have just taken better care of yourself?"

The Exo's faceplates reshaped quizzically as he turned to face him. "What do you mean?" To his surprise, Ghost _recoiled_. There was no alternative meaning in his words. Caldus was out of the know, his companion realized. This surprised Ghost...

...and made him all the more furious.

"You mean to tell me you can't remember _that_?!" he yelled. Caldus's optics widened, pupils briefly contracting. He was surprised at his sudden and harsh response. He knew from experience that getting Ghost to quiet down was difficult when he was angry, but there were workarounds. He again shifted his gaze to Ghost, brows knitted. "Transmatt," he told him, quiet but stern. "Now." He could scream all he wanted inside his head, and even though it would be quiet uncomfortable for Ghost to do so in there, it was preferable in this instance.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. "Screw you!" he yelled even louder. "No way I'm gonna share your sad excuse for a head." He zoomed past him down the stairs.

Caldus made haste in joining him on the stairway. He, kept his voice hushed, but that did not subtract from his venom. "Now," Caldus interrupted with a tone that was low and filled with venom, "I do hope you have substantial reason to enforce your insulting vocabulary." Both of them were staring daggers at this point.

"I just-" Ghost sighed and glanced down. His resolve left him. His inner tensions seemed to dissipate and he attempted to dodge the question. "Look, maybe it's for the best that you _don't_ know."

"Ghost-"

"No, Cal'! Please, not this time. Just...let's just drop it, okay?"

"You conjured a scene!" the machine seethed.

"What 'scene'? There's literally no _one here!_ " he shouted.

The Exo would not have it. "Do not ask me to let this dissipate without an expla-"

"-For _your_ _sake,_ 'Cal."

Caldus froze. What did he mean by that?

 **[Track 6 Start]**

 _There is only the next step..._

The Exo got an abrupt answer when pain begun to manifest in his helm. He doubled over with a grunt, his face tightened, and his grip on reality slipped from his grasp.

" _Where_ are _you?" said the shadow in a low, guttural voice. Slow, methodical, calculating footsteps quaked the mossy ground beneath him where he hid..._

"'Cal?"

 _...It's breath was as ice. "I...smell your stench. The_ _stench of the Infinite Shape."_

 _He suddenly heard it extend it's giant wings, and perform a single, powerful flap that cracked the surrounding air like a whip. "You must know, machine, that you cannot hide your Candle under a bushel forever."_

"'Cal!"

" _This is what happens to those who rebel against the Garden's course; all too late do they realize that their rebellious life will further its cause more than the most loyal of its players."_

"Caldus!?"

 _It tore up the raised concrete floor that jutted out of the sloped decline_. He jerked his helm upwards in shock.

 _ **"For your service, you have the simplest form of my dying gratitude-"**_

"-Caldus Seven!"

 **[Track 6 End]**

His optics snapped back into focus upon the last clanging impact of Ghost's frame against his helm. Caldus briefly lifted a left servo to the place of impact, and had to catch himself from losing his footing and tumbling down the stairway. Looking up, he saw Ghost hovering next to him, eyeing him. "Welcome back to the real world, 'ya thick-headed, lucid day-dreamer."

Caldus found the insults mildly amusing. His servo dropped to his side, and he let out an minutely-shaky breath and spoke, quiet and soft. "I recall now what you spoke of," His voice then found determination. "We keep to that rule."

Ghost's floating frame briefly lowered in relief. "Phew. I was dreading having to try and explain all that to you again _._ That would've been a , we were lenient enough back before that angry mullet reared his drunken mood."

Again ignoring his humor, the Exo moved on. "Not a word," he stated.

"And not a thought," Ghost echoed.

Caldus peered to his right, overtop and past the stairway, at the lift, specifically. The ceiling lights had shut off by now, and a moment passed when he saw the lift do the same. The hallway had now been, once again, engulfed in an eerie darkness that was only partly subsided from the world's moon, which currently held moderately close to the horizon. Caldus had not spent much time awake in this capsule, but that didn't reduce the weight of this structure's importance. In small part, he was grateful for the second chance. He then found himself rehearsing the Minotaur's final words.

Ghost was not currently in his mindspace, so he could privately speak to himself mentally. _No. There is no alternative_ , he told himself. It was what he had been telling himself for years.

He turned, shifting his gaze to the vast stretch of wasteland they both found themselves in. Caldus didn't know where they were on this rock. He looked skyward. The moon caught his gaze. Caldus didn't even know if they were _in_ their solar system.

He hadn't the _slightest_ idea where he was in any reasonable capacity.

It took so long to locate _this_ Hourglass on Venus. How would he be expected to single out the other _two_ that housed his Vahds?

It was all quite overwhelming. So much to do, and so little time...

...There is no time to be lost in his thoughts. He blinked, and his optics came into focus. His gaze lowered to the bottom of the stairway, and his brows furrowed.

 _There is only the next step_. He made a hurried pace down, with Ghost silently transmatting. He knew his host had been sorting things out in his head, and given the circumstances, he thought it best to not interrupt him.

Caldus had noticed him entering his mind. Once his boots landed on the cracked earth, he had an epiphany. _In which direction did the Captain run off?_ he quickly asked.

That was the last question Ghost wanted to answer. He knew he would probably have to end up explaining to him that he didn't know how long it was since he saw the Eliksni; and how he had essentially _died_ in the process of pursuit. Ghost reasoned to leave that subject be, for now. He couldn't see it negatively affecting them in either case. _"Uh, that way,"_ Ghost answered, doing his best to hide his trepidation. Caldus, to his relief, did not notice, and accepted the answer without question. He veered straight and to the right, with his _Hourglass_ looming behind him, and slightly favoring his right shoulder.

* * *

 _ **Earlier...**_

"Entering atmosphere in one." warned the pilot. "Hang onto something!"

Kenobi was not dissuaded, however. A blue-shaded representation of the relevant topography shun alit on the yoke's neighboring screen, some of it bouncing onto the peering General's studious expression. He had earlier ordered a gunship to aim it's scanner to where the anomaly was supposed to be, and relay the result to this pod.

He extended a finger. "That wasn't there before," he said primarily to himself. The pilot to his left, and the officer who still loomed in the back of the pod, had not been briefed on the situation, and therefore could provide little input.

He leaned closer with squinted eyes. "What in the name of-" the perpetual state of dumbfoundedness he was in was already becoming quite exhausting. The structure of the tower was very haphazard. No signs of uniformity, symmetry, or even armaments. In fact, it looked so structurally unstable that he was surprised that it hadn't toppled to the ground in a heap.

Regardless, this all but confirmed it to him that the Separatists were not involved, at least not heavily. The enemy was known to outsource experimental development in the past. "But how was it not there in the first place?" He made a mental note to report this to the Order the next time he gets a chance. His eyes then caught the sight of Anakin's crashed LAAT on-screen. He then turned to the pilot. "Alter our course. Land us next to the crash site."

"Yes, Sir," the pilot responded.

The fiery light of atmosphere entry suddenly enveloped them all, and proceeded to shake them about, and audibly rattle the pod itself.

And the Force became ever distant.

* * *

 **[Track 5 Start on Loop]**

Some time had passed. The _Hourglass_ had become smaller. The wind also began to pick up, and it whistled against his side, his clothes flapping to its beat. _"You know,"_ said Ghost, _"I first came across this signature when I followed that captain outside. It felt like I was swimming in water, but now I feel like I've adjusted to it."_

The Exo was intrigued. _As have I_ , Caldus replied. He, too, was now finding it easier to move navigate after allowing time to grow accustomed.

Ghost sighed. " _Still...it's all very weird."_

Caldus stopped and partially turned, looking over his shoulder to take in the full view of the _Hourglass_ that, from this distance, had shrunken a third.

 _The presence of this blanket is...quite unsettling, yes,_ he said before turning back around, continuing the trek.

" _Blanket?"_ Ghost scoffed. _"I guess that's one way to put it."_ Receiving no response, Ghost continued, _"Well, we know it's not anything we've felt before,"_

Which reminded Caldus to ask, _Tell me what you discovered from the humanoid._

" _Not much," he quipped. "This same signature we're 'swimming' through right now was blocking my sensors. There wasn't even a life signature for me to detect. We both know what kind of energy the Dark emits, and this ain't it; and it's obviously not Light. What this is, I don't know, but it's linked to everything surrounding us. But it's like it was wrapped around that guy in a higher concentration than everything else."_ Ghost let out a frustrated scoff. _"It wouldn't even let me check his vitals, of all things_. _"_

The Exo glanced down thoughtfully. _So no conclusions_.

" _Only this: I'm not saying that man has no signature, obviously, or he shouldn't be alive; but rather, he's enveloped in something that's preventing me from getting getting information off him. Sorta like how certain kinds of clothing can hide a person from an infrared camera."_

The Exo piggybacked off his metaphor. _And seemingly, the this entire region is wearing the same attire, yes?_

" _Of varying intensities, yeah. It is. And unfortunately I haven't had any luck in isolating the signature, either-"_ Just then, an idea popped into Ghost's head. " _You know what?_ " he quickly transmatted to the Exo's side and floated down, peering below him at the cracked ground upon which they walked, and illuminated their immediate surroundings from the activation of his scanner, with Caldus stopping to witness. The electronic chiming of it's activation contrasted with the breezy silence. Ghost didn't notice him hurriedly checking their surroundings once more.

"Alright," the Little Light began. "Right now I'm still getting the 'blanket' as you put it, but it's less intense here, and... _ooh!"_ he cheered. "I'm able to get _some_ amount of a reading this time! It's..." he trailed off, and Caldus, who practically ignored his assessment, was quick to speak in his place.

"Ghost, return to my mindspace," he said with urgency. The Exo was swift to crouch overtop his companion in a shielding manner as he worked. "We are out in the open. You can scan the ground another time-"

"-Sandstone," Ghost interrupted. "Just plain ol', brittle and porous standstone. Except-"

"Transmat!" Caldus exclaimed, causing Ghost to jerk his optic up at him in surprise.

"Alright, alright! Fine," Ghost relented with minor annoyance. "Geez," and he dematerialized, leaving them under only the dim light of planet's moon, and the dialed-down glow of Caldus's optics once more. He stood.

Ghost continued his train of thought aboard his mind. " _So I was able to read all that from the ground, yeah? Well, here's the catch: Turns out that blanket is_ ingrained _in the stone at a near-molecular level._ "

Turning around and continuing the trek, Caldus lifted a squeaky, rusty brow. _Are you certain? Because if that is the case-_

" _Then there's a pretty dang good chance it's the same way with Mr. Mullet back there,"_ Ghost finished for him.

Caldus then cascaded this train of thought. _There would then be a solid case to be made that this entity is just a part of his kind's biology. It would fit nicely with his telekinetic abilities._ He then became silent for a period. _But that does not answer everything I wish to know._

" _Right,"_ Ghost echoed, understandingly.

Caldus went on anyway. The mental projection of his voice became filled with a somber weight, and quieting, as he walked. _Upon the opening of the_ Hourglass' _gate, and during the end of my confrontation with the humanoid, it was made very clear to me that this anomaly operates on the same plane as our own, familiar, arcane symbiote. And it was active in proving to me that we do not mix..._ His tone became bitter towards the end. _How, and why, I wonder...?_

Caldus passed one of the many small craters that littered the ground, unaware that it was the very place which Ghost awoke from. The Little Light kept silent; that wasn't a conversation he was looking forward to having.

Seconds became minutes. Minutes became hours as Caldus traversed the vacant terrain, remaining vigilant to both his immediate surroundings so as to not trip into a crater, and the outer vicinity to scan for threats. On occasion the Exo heard the distant howls of what sounded like a canine, which would bring him up to alert status and made certain that they were not in striking range. Other than that, the only sounds either of them heard was the blowing of the wind, the steps of the Exo's boots, and the squeaking of his joints, the lattermost of which, while still causing him a minor amount of discomfort, became a little easier to handle as time progressed.

Caldus looked up at the moon, which was hanging partially towards his left horizon. As expected, by now it had shifted positions. _This moon does not have the same visible topography as our own_ , he said, pointing out the shapes of it's craters, and the lack of the damage it sustained from the Hive's infestation. Ghost merely grunted in acknowledgment. _I wonder if this world rotates on a similar axis as Earth's_.

" _Okaaay. Why?"_ Ghost asked in puzzled hesitance.

Caldus went on. _"For the purpose of establishing compass directions. It would be wise to stay informed on where we are traveling."_

" _Oh, I gotcha,"_ he replied. _"Well, does it matter which directions are which? You know, as long as we're on the same page."_

 _It does not. But I am curious where the actual planetary poles are positioned, relative to us_.

Ghost hummed thoughtfully. _"Well, this moon's probably gonna set somewhere behind the_ Hourglass _._ _For simplicity's sake, we could just say that's West."_

 _Very well,_ he conceded with a slight nod. _We continue traveling East South-East._

* * *

Eventually, they found themselves at the beginning of a steep sandy incline, which outlined the end of the basin.

" _Man, I really hope we're going the right way,_ " Ghost complained.

Caldus stopped. _As do I,_ he replied. The fact that the Captain went in this direction was not much to go off of, the Exo conceded. He peered upwards, towards the top of the dune. They were almost out of this pit. He then look to his left. The outline created a gentle curve that extended to the mountain range due North.

Ghost sighed. Something had been bothering him. " _'Cal, look, I gotta ask. What are we doing?_ "The Exo rose a brow. " _I mean, who knows where the nearest civilization is, if there even is any. Or what their level of technology they possess._ "

Caldus stiffened, stopped in his tracks, and scowled. _We will not get anywhere by standing around. We travel, observe, and use what we find,_ he replied with frustration. Realizing his tone, Caldus calmed himself. _I am aware that we are lost in more ways than one, however this is the only path forward that we know of._

Ghost scoffed. " _I still think we should've interrogated that guy._ "

 _There was no time. We were warned to evacuate immediately,_ Caldus retorted.

The Little Light scoffed. " _And when's that ever stopped us? Shouldn't we've at least_ tried-?!" cried Ghost in exasperation.

"-There is no time to decipher a language barrier! _"_ Caldus exclaimed audibly. _Time is_ everything _, now, Ghost. Do you not understand?_

" _Of course I do! But..."_ Ghost had been holding off on this since they left the _Hourglass_. _"...I know this isn't something you wanna talk about, but you said yourself you didn't want any part of them anymore."_

Caldus knew who Ghost was referring to. _What I "want" need not always coincide with the next, necessary step, Ghost,_ the Exo countered.

" _Yet here you are, still avoiding reigniting your spark,"_ Ghost prodded knowingly, and the Exo's servos clenched. _"I still notice things, you know. Now what you do with your power is your business, but..." Ghost paused, his voice becoming soft and pleading, "just please don't act like I don't see what's happening with you."_

Caldus stilled, both to contemplate Ghost's remarks, and allowed time for the annoyance of this conversation to drain. A slow, full inhale later, Caldus shook his head and snarled in a quiet growl, not at Ghost, but at the whole mess of a situation they found themselves in. The vapor of his breath escaped as he sighed and peered down. "Believe me," Caldus said aloud, the fiery lights pulsating out of his mouth as he spoke with audible heaviness, lighting up their immediate dark surroundings, "If I were to pursue what I desired most, I would have climbed back into that casket and remained there for eternity."

The subsequent silence was _very_ loud. Slinging his rifle behind his back, Caldus looked up, sucked in the cool dusty air into his heatsink, and began ascending the dune. _"...Really?"_ Ghost finally, and quietly, asked.

 _Yes,_ he replied. _It was...an adequate form of escape they provided me_ , He added tentatively. _It reminded me of better days. I was...distracted._

Truth be told, Ghost had no idea how that casket worked, or what the Vex were going to do to him. To know that he had this long a time to be at ease was...actually comforting.

" _I had no idea, dude,"_ the Little Light in relief, and was followed by a breathy chuckle. "And there I was worried sick that they were gonna tear you apart. In every conceivable way."

Caldus hummed. _A sound prediction, given our pasts. Thankfully it was not the case._

" _Yeah...it's just,"_ Ghost sighed, " _I hate having to worry about 'ya like that._ "

Caldus sighed. _And I, you_ , and the conversation died.

His knee joints creaked as he climbed. He had to dig his servos into the sand to avoid slipping. Eventually, he reached the top. Caldus took some time to scan his surroundings once more. The West and North was nothing but snaking dunes. The East, however, contained an anomaly. He turned to fully face that direction and squinted. The light of the moon bounced off the hull of what looked to be a small ship. It's wings angled down from the top of the hull, with a round-snouted cockpit narrowing in front. It was resting at a noticeable angle on it's side, which suggested it had possibly crashed, and had certainly been abandoned.

" _Guess_ _these guys_ do _have ships..._ " Ghost muttered.

 _It could belong to the human and his companions,_ the Exo suggested.

" _Well, we got a better option?"_ Ghost asked. After a moment to ponder, Caldus started walking along the edge of the basin, far enough away from the edge so to not slip and landslide his way back down, towards the vessel.

 **[Track 5 Pause]**

* * *

 **[Silence]**

"She's going to _what_?" exclaimed the General.

"That's what the other fighteres are telling us, Sir," explained the officer in the back. "Her course hasn't changed a bit."

Obi-Wan rubbed his forehead, then turned to the pilot. "Pilot, change course. Now!"

"It's too late to adjust, Sir!" cried the pilot. Escape pods were not designed with maneuverability in mind.

"Blast!" he yelled. The Jedi closed his eyes, took a breath, and reasoned. "Then we'll have to make a run for it." He spun around to the officer behind him. "You! Pass me your macrobinoculars!"

Kenobi could only hope that rest of them were out of the way.

* * *

 **[Track 5 Start]**

" _Hey, it looks kinda like that candy corn lady I mentioned earlier,_ " Ghost quipped. Caldus had briefly stopped to study the artwork on the ship's portside. " _Well, not exactly, of course. She was more red-orange, and had an extra-uh,_ tail, _I guess?- behind her._ "

"What odd anatomical features," the Exo mused, thumbs hanging inside his side jean pockets. _They_ _must serve some purpose_.

To his surprise, Ghost laughed. " _Of course_ you'd _be thinking about that._ " In response, Cladus merely raised a squeaky brow. "Look _at her! You know what this is supposed to be, right?_ "

 _Yes, nose art,_ the Exo replied, seemingly oblivious to Ghost's implication. _A common find among craft of military purpose._ He paused. _At least, on Earth._

Ghost exaggerated a sigh and moved on. " _So, what? You thinking those guys back there were homies?_ "

Caldus slowly shook his head in thought, his optics never leaving the artwork. A right servo rose to support his chin, and his mouth pursed in concentration as he took a step forward. _No, that does not make sense._

Ghost spoke before he thought. _"Eh, does to me."_

 _No,_ Caldus persisted. _Because such artwork denotes a familiarity with its subject. A longing. A desire for. But never in our history have we encountered a creature such as this. How can one long for someone they had never come to fathom?_

" _They could've just made it up, themselves,"_ Ghost offered. " _Art_ does _involve creativity, you know._ "

 _But it is not customary,_ the Exo continued. _Not for us. Probability is in favor of this._

Ghost relented, and instead focused on another aspect. They had, after all, searched the vessel through and through already. " _Though the whole 'military' thing would explain the pilots' armor._ "

 _Indeed_. The Exo let out a breath. "If only the vessel was functional. Just a working radio would do." Though even then, would anyone listening understand them. There was Morse code, as well, but for all he knew there was another standardized binary language that replaced it, here.

" _I know, but everything's fried. Just like that little communicator thing in your pocket._ " Ghost scoffed. " _Heck, the only useful stuff here is the armor from the pilots._ "

It would have to do. Caldus walked over to the bow. He raised his arms and jumped, latching onto the opening side of the frontmost pilot's seat. He pulled himself up and, resting both a right foot and a left knee on the edge, scooped up the armored corpse by the underarms and dragged him over his left side. He let gravity do the rest of the work, and The body slid down the ship's port bow and landed with an unceremonious thud, resting against the hull, followed by the thud of the Exo's boots landing ahead of him. He then dragged him back inside the vessel, out of sight.

Caldus kneeled beside the body and then carefully positioned both servos on the sides of his helmet and lifted it off, revealed the dark, yet pale-skinned face of a man. Caldus looked on for a moment, then quietly asked, "Ghost, did you scan him?"

The Little Light transmatted beside him. "I tried, but no cigar. Though this time I'm thinking it was the armor putting him _just_ outta reach."

"Try again," he said, and ghost's cone shun upon the body, particularly the head. "Huh, well how about that?" Ghost cheered. "I can get basic readings off this guy."

 **[Track 6 Start]**

Content with the course of things, Caldus arose and stepped out of the vessel. He looked up and, for the first time, registered the _immense_ amount of stars that littered the night sky. The moon had shifted again, of course, and the dune ahead of him blocked all view of the _Hourglass_.

Part of him was relieved, having some visual metaphor for leaving everything behind. All the hiding, and secrecy that bordered on paranoia. The others would reminisce about the past, before the end. All the glory of protecting Sol, and the fame of slaying demigods. Before he had to see again and again the forever-sleeping faces, like the dead man behind him. It was unavoidable. He knew this, and embraces it's laws. Yet so much spilled blood. So many faces of the innocent dead that still held expressions of mortal terror and sorrow. So many left wandering without their guiding lighthouse. So much...darkness.

So much... _laughter._

He? He was content to leave it _all_ behind. To let the memory drift into the stars above, lost in identity among their many numbers. The baggage of then, was now released from his shoulders. Only to be replaced by the baggage of tomorrow. Caldus accepted this. He had no choice _except_ to.

 **[Silence]**

The last thing the Exo expected now was to hear a distant, uncharacteristic and unnatural sound. He looked around and saw nothing. It was distant, likely behind him and the ship, and it resembled that of speeding aircraft, and was gaining in volume. Instinctually, he spun around and darted back inside the ship, where Ghost had just shot his frame up. He was about to peak around outside when Caldus stopped him. "Transmat" he commanded, and slung his rifle from his back, into his hands. Ghost didn't object and entered his mind. The Exo glanced down and took the safety off, the holographic dot sight springing to life, and he shouldered the firearm at low ready.

" _Maybe their friendly_ ," Ghost reasoned. _"Could even be some of ours that survived_. _"_

And _perhaps they are reinforcements to the man I nearly killed,_ Caldus retorted.

" _Ah...right_ ," Caldus could practically hear Ghost gulp. " _You think they know that already?_ "

 _In fairness, no, possibly not. Regardless, better to play it safe. Now hush._

Caldus took a moment to listen. From what he could perceive, the aircraft had stopped advancing on their position. He could also hear multiple variations of pitch. Some were downrolled, and others seemed consistent, suggesting that...

 _Not good_ , he forebode to himself.

" _W-what?_ " fumbled Ghost.

 _There are many of them, and they are landing near us_. _To our North_.

That was when they heard a loud whiz, followed by a thud that quaked beneath his peds, partially shaking the ship itself.

" _Now_ that _was more South-ish, wasn't it?_ " Ghost asked.

 _Correct._ Caldus assumed the West front was far enough away to inspect the perceivably closer impact. He peered his helm just out of the ship, and clearing his flanks, stepped out in a crouch and moved left, hugging the hull with his left side. _Watch my six_ , he told Ghost. Far ahead, an estimated half-kilometer out, between and past where the West-facing dune ended, and the nose of the ship, was a disturbed, floating mass of sand from what was obviously the impact point.

 **[Track 7 Start]**

The fog receded after a brief period, and Caldus twitched his rifle into ready position, looking through the dot sight, and aiming it at what was apparently the opening door to another, more cylindrical ship. A red hue from a light shun from inside the vessel, and then, a man stepped out.

The Exo's optics contracted in surprise. The coloration was different-more of a light cream coloring-but the robes were distinctly similar to-

" _-It's the Mullet Man's sidekick..."_ Ghost mused.

 _Six o'clock, Ghost_!the Exo reprimanded.

Caldus saw him look straight in their direction, holding his hands at the sides of his eyes as if to block out non-existent sunlight-

-No, he was holding _binoculars_. He could definitely see them, then. This alone nearly set the Exo off, and convince him to open fire lest he give away their position. The only things holding him back was the variables: without a substantial rest to mount the rifle atop of, or a magnified scope through which to aim, or without precise knowledge of this planet's gravitational pull, a successful shot at this distance would be nigh impossible, even for someone like him.

But the man didn't linger like this for long, however. He transitioned his gaze up and away, to the East, before turning to help not one, but two other humans donned in grey, out of the ship before sprinting away, further to the South.

 _What are they running from?_ Caldus asked. As if on cue, a quiet breeze began to pick up sand around the nose of the ship in front of him. It was unusually eerie.

"' _Cal, something's not right._ " Caldus had worked with his Ghost long enough to know that when he speaks hurriedly and without any hint of doubt, something is indeed _very_ wrong. Cautiously, the Exo inched to the nose of the ship and rose to full stature, still lingering close to the hull, and he peaked over the top of the cockpit.

His optics contracted fully. He instinctually sucked in a breath to cool his heatsink while his mind sent out major warnings.

Ghost was filled with terrorized astoundment. " _Oh_. _My. God._ "

 **[Track 7 2:10]**

Nothing to the North or West mattered, now. Saying nothing, he flicked his rifle to safe and hastily slung it over his shoulder before bolting Southward, away from the silhouette of the ever-looming and ever-approaching mass of perhaps the largest ship he and Ghost had ever witnessed in their long lives, as it descended in an angular, obtuse nosedive towards them. He ignored the rusted, grinding pain in his joints, and traversed the quite minimal slopes of rolling dunes. His peds kicked sand to and fro, arms bent at ninety-degrees. The worn Exo's pace was fast, and his stride true. He quickly glanced to the left. The ship's nose had now touched down and displaced great amounts of sand, and he could hear the rumbling of the damaged terrain; it was already dreadfully close. He wouldn't be able to fully outrun it, he concluded dreadfully. He then glanced to the vessel the three humans had abandoned, which he perceived to be within reach of his speed. He locked onto it.

Optics, once contracted, began to dilate with determination, and his paced increased via sheer will.

They were not going to die, this day.

The giant vessel was right upon him when he leaped into the cylindrical ship and grabbed onto literally the first thing he could, which in this case happened to be a set of short, diagonal support beams for a row of seats, and wrapped himself around them as best he could, creating as many points of contact with them as possible.

And it was in this moment, that the train met the marooned car.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6: A Nosedived Defense**_


End file.
